SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [--track | --no-track] [-b <new_branch> [-l]] [-m] [<branch>]
+'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-t | --track | --no-track] [-b <new_branch> [-l]] [-m] [<branch>]
'git checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [<tree-ish>] [--] <paths>...
DESCRIPTION
be created; in this case you can use the --track or --no-track
options, which will be passed to `git branch`.
-As a convenience, --track will default to create a branch whose
+As a convenience, --track will default to creating a branch whose
name is constructed from the specified branch name by stripping
the first namespace level.
When <paths> are given, this command does *not* switch
branches. It updates the named paths in the working tree from
the index file, or from a named <tree-ish> (most often a commit). In
-this case, the `-b` options is meaningless and giving
-either of them results in an error. <tree-ish> argument can be
+this case, the `-b` and `--track` options are meaningless and giving
+either of them results in an error. The <tree-ish> argument can be
used to specify a specific tree-ish (i.e. commit, tag or tree)
to update the index for the given paths before updating the
working tree.
<repository> <refspec>" explicitly. This behavior is the default
when the start point is a remote branch. Set the
branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you want
- 'git-checkout' and 'git-branch' to always behave as if '--no-track' were
+ 'git checkout' and 'git branch' to always behave as if '--no-track' were
given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the
- start-point is either a local or remote branch.
+ start point is either a local or remote branch.
+
-If no '-b' option was given, the name of the new branch will be
-derived from the remote branch, by attempting to guess the name
-of the branch on remote system. If "remotes/" or "refs/remotes/"
-are prefixed, it is stripped away, and then the part up to the
+If no '-b' option is given, the name of the new branch will be
+derived from the remote branch. If "remotes/" or "refs/remotes/"
+is prefixed it is stripped away, and then the part up to the
next slash (which would be the nickname of the remote) is removed.
This would tell us to use "hack" as the local branch when branching
off of "origin/hack" (or "remotes/origin/hack", or even
When this parameter names a non-branch (but still a valid commit object),
your HEAD becomes 'detached'.
+
-As a special case, the "`@\{-N\}`" syntax for the N-th last branch
+As a special case, the `"@\{-N\}"` syntax for the N-th last branch
checks out the branch (instead of detaching). You may also specify
-"`-`" which is synonymous with "`@\{-1\}`".
+`-` which is synonymous with `"@\{-1\}"`.
Detached HEAD
------------
Earlier versions of git did not allow this and asked you to
-create a temporary branch using `-b` option, but starting from
+create a temporary branch using the `-b` option, but starting from
version 1.5.0, the above command 'detaches' your HEAD from the
-current branch and directly point at the commit named by the tag
-(`v2.6.18` in the above example).
+current branch and directly points at the commit named by the tag
+(`v2.6.18` in the example above).
-You can use usual git commands while in this state. You can use
+You can use all git commands while in this state. You can use
`git reset --hard $othercommit` to further move around, for
example. You can make changes and create a new commit on top of
a detached HEAD. You can even create a merge by using `git
------------
+
<1> switch branch
-<2> take out a file out of other commit
+<2> take a file out of another commit
<3> restore hello.c from HEAD of current branch
+
If you have an unfortunate branch that is named `hello.c`, this
$ git checkout -- hello.c
------------
-. After working in a wrong branch, switching to the correct
+. After working in the wrong branch, switching to the correct
branch would be done using:
+
------------
------------
+
However, your "wrong" branch and correct "mytopic" branch may
-differ in files that you have locally modified, in which case,
+differ in files that you have modified locally, in which case
the above checkout would fail like this:
+
------------