SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git reset' [--mixed | --soft | --hard | --merge] [-q] [<commit>]
'git reset' [-q] [<commit>] [--] <paths>...
'git reset' --patch [<commit>] [--] [<paths>...]
+'git reset' [--soft | --mixed | --hard | --merge | --keep] [-q] [<commit>]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Sets the current head to the specified commit and optionally resets the
-index and working tree to match.
+In the first and second form, copy entries from <commit> to the index.
+In the third form, set the current branch head (HEAD) to <commit>, optionally
+modifying index and working tree to match. The <commit> defaults to HEAD
+in all forms.
-This command is useful if you notice some small error in a recent
-commit (or set of commits) and want to redo that part without showing
-the undo in the history.
-
-If you want to undo a commit other than the latest on a branch,
-linkgit:git-revert[1] is your friend.
+'git reset' [-q] [<commit>] [--] <paths>...::
+ This form resets the index entries for all <paths> to their
+ state at <commit>. (It does not affect the working tree, nor
+ the current branch.)
++
+This means that `git reset <paths>` is the opposite of `git add
+<paths>`.
++
+After running `git reset <paths>` to update the index entry, you can
+use linkgit:git-checkout[1] to check the contents out of the index to
+the working tree.
+Alternatively, using linkgit:git-checkout[1] and specifying a commit, you
+can copy the contents of a path out of a commit to the index and to the
+working tree in one go.
-The second and third forms with 'paths' and/or --patch are used to
-revert selected paths in the index from a given commit, without moving
-HEAD.
+'git reset' --patch|-p [<commit>] [--] [<paths>...]::
+ Interactively select hunks in the difference between the index
+ and <commit> (defaults to HEAD). The chosen hunks are applied
+ in reverse to the index.
++
+This means that `git reset -p` is the opposite of `git add -p` (see
+linkgit:git-add[1]).
+'git reset' [--<mode>] [<commit>]::
+ This form resets the current branch head to <commit> and
+ possibly updates the index (resetting it to the tree of <commit>) and
+ the working tree depending on <mode>, which
+ must be one of the following:
++
+--
+--soft::
+ Does not touch the index file nor the working tree at all (but
+ resets the head to <commit>, just like all modes do). This leaves
+ all your changed files "Changes to be committed", as 'git status'
+ would put it.
-OPTIONS
--------
--mixed::
Resets the index but not the working tree (i.e., the changed files
are preserved but not marked for commit) and reports what has not
been updated. This is the default action.
---soft::
- Does not touch the index file nor the working tree at all, but
- requires them to be in a good order. This leaves all your changed
- files "Changes to be committed", as 'git-status' would
- put it.
-
--hard::
- Matches the working tree and index to that of the tree being
- switched to. Any changes to tracked files in the working tree
- since <commit> are lost.
+ Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked files in the
+ working tree since <commit> are discarded.
--merge::
- Resets the index to match the tree recorded by the named commit,
- and updates the files that are different between the named commit
- and the current commit in the working tree.
-
--p::
---patch::
- Interactively select hunks in the difference between the index
- and <commit> (defaults to HEAD). The chosen hunks are applied
- in reverse to the index.
+ Resets the index and updates the files in the working tree that are
+ different between <commit> and HEAD, but keeps those which are
+ different between the index and working tree (i.e. which have changes
+ which have not been added).
+ If a file that is different between <commit> and the index has unstaged
+ changes, reset is aborted.
+
-This means that `git reset -p` is the opposite of `git add -p` (see
-linkgit:git-add[1]).
+In other words, --merge does something like a 'git read-tree -u -m <commit>',
+but carries forward unmerged index entries.
+
+--keep::
+ Resets index entries and updates files in the working tree that are
+ different between <commit> and HEAD.
+ If a file that is different between <commit> and HEAD has local changes,
+ reset is aborted.
+--
+
+If you want to undo a commit other than the latest on a branch,
+linkgit:git-revert[1] is your friend.
+
+
+OPTIONS
+-------
-q::
+--quiet::
Be quiet, only report errors.
-<commit>::
- Commit to make the current HEAD. If not given defaults to HEAD.
-Examples
+EXAMPLES
--------
+Undo add::
++
+------------
+$ edit <1>
+$ git add frotz.c filfre.c
+$ mailx <2>
+$ git reset <3>
+$ git pull git://info.example.com/ nitfol <4>
+------------
++
+<1> You are happily working on something, and find the changes
+in these files are in good order. You do not want to see them
+when you run "git diff", because you plan to work on other files
+and changes with these files are distracting.
+<2> Somebody asks you to pull, and the changes sounds worthy of merging.
+<3> However, you already dirtied the index (i.e. your index does
+not match the HEAD commit). But you know the pull you are going
+to make does not affect frotz.c nor filfre.c, so you revert the
+index changes for these two files. Your changes in working tree
+remain there.
+<4> Then you can pull and merge, leaving frotz.c and filfre.c
+changes still in the working tree.
+
Undo a commit and redo::
+
------------
+
See also the --amend option to linkgit:git-commit[1].
-Undo commits permanently::
-+
-------------
-$ git commit ...
-$ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <1>
-------------
-+
-<1> The last three commits (HEAD, HEAD^, and HEAD~2) were bad
-and you do not want to ever see them again. Do *not* do this if
-you have already given these commits to somebody else. (See the
-"RECOVERING FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1] for
-the implications of doing so.)
-
Undo a commit, making it a topic branch::
+
------------
<2> Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three commits.
<3> Switch to "topic/wip" branch and keep working.
-Undo add::
+Undo commits permanently::
+
------------
-$ edit <1>
-$ git add frotz.c filfre.c
-$ mailx <2>
-$ git reset <3>
-$ git pull git://info.example.com/ nitfol <4>
+$ git commit ...
+$ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <1>
------------
+
-<1> You are happily working on something, and find the changes
-in these files are in good order. You do not want to see them
-when you run "git diff", because you plan to work on other files
-and changes with these files are distracting.
-<2> Somebody asks you to pull, and the changes sounds worthy of merging.
-<3> However, you already dirtied the index (i.e. your index does
-not match the HEAD commit). But you know the pull you are going
-to make does not affect frotz.c nor filfre.c, so you revert the
-index changes for these two files. Your changes in working tree
-remain there.
-<4> Then you can pull and merge, leaving frotz.c and filfre.c
-changes still in the working tree.
+<1> The last three commits (HEAD, HEAD^, and HEAD~2) were bad
+and you do not want to ever see them again. Do *not* do this if
+you have already given these commits to somebody else. (See the
+"RECOVERING FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1] for
+the implications of doing so.)
Undo a merge or pull::
+
brings your index file and the working tree back to that state,
and resets the tip of the branch to that commit.
-Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty work tree::
+Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty working tree::
+
------------
$ git pull <1>
<2> This commits all other changes in the index.
<3> Adds the file to the index again.
+Keep changes in working tree while discarding some previous commits::
++
+Suppose you are working on something and you commit it, and then you
+continue working a bit more, but now you think that what you have in
+your working tree should be in another branch that has nothing to do
+with what you committed previously. You can start a new branch and
+reset it while keeping the changes in your working tree.
++
+------------
+$ git tag start
+$ git checkout -b branch1
+$ edit
+$ git commit ... <1>
+$ edit
+$ git checkout -b branch2 <2>
+$ git reset --keep start <3>
+------------
++
+<1> This commits your first edits in branch1.
+<2> In the ideal world, you could have realized that the earlier
+ commit did not belong to the new topic when you created and switched
+ to branch2 (i.e. "git checkout -b branch2 start"), but nobody is
+ perfect.
+<3> But you can use "reset --keep" to remove the unwanted commit after
+ you switched to "branch2".
+
+
+DISCUSSION
+----------
+
+The tables below show what happens when running:
+
+----------
+git reset --option target
+----------
+
+to reset the HEAD to another commit (`target`) with the different
+reset options depending on the state of the files.
+
+In these tables, A, B, C and D are some different states of a
+file. For example, the first line of the first table means that if a
+file is in state A in the working tree, in state B in the index, in
+state C in HEAD and in state D in the target, then "git reset --soft
+target" will leave the file in the working tree in state A and in the
+index in state B. It resets (i.e. moves) the HEAD (i.e. the tip of
+the current branch, if you are on one) to "target" (which has the file
+in state D).
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ A B C D --soft A B D
+ --mixed A D D
+ --hard D D D
+ --merge (disallowed)
+ --keep (disallowed)
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ A B C C --soft A B C
+ --mixed A C C
+ --hard C C C
+ --merge (disallowed)
+ --keep A C C
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ B B C D --soft B B D
+ --mixed B D D
+ --hard D D D
+ --merge D D D
+ --keep (disallowed)
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ B B C C --soft B B C
+ --mixed B C C
+ --hard C C C
+ --merge C C C
+ --keep B C C
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ B C C D --soft B C D
+ --mixed B D D
+ --hard D D D
+ --merge (disallowed)
+ --keep (disallowed)
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ B C C C --soft B C C
+ --mixed B C C
+ --hard C C C
+ --merge B C C
+ --keep B C C
+
+"reset --merge" is meant to be used when resetting out of a conflicted
+merge. Any mergy operation guarantees that the working tree file that is
+involved in the merge does not have local change wrt the index before
+it starts, and that it writes the result out to the working tree. So if
+we see some difference between the index and the target and also
+between the index and the working tree, then it means that we are not
+resetting out from a state that a mergy operation left after failing
+with a conflict. That is why we disallow --merge option in this case.
+
+"reset --keep" is meant to be used when removing some of the last
+commits in the current branch while keeping changes in the working
+tree. If there could be conflicts between the changes in the commit we
+want to remove and the changes in the working tree we want to keep,
+the reset is disallowed. That's why it is disallowed if there are both
+changes between the working tree and HEAD, and between HEAD and the
+target. To be safe, it is also disallowed when there are unmerged
+entries.
+
+The following tables show what happens when there are unmerged
+entries:
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ X U A B --soft (disallowed)
+ --mixed X B B
+ --hard B B B
+ --merge B B B
+ --keep (disallowed)
+
+ working index HEAD target working index HEAD
+ ----------------------------------------------------
+ X U A A --soft (disallowed)
+ --mixed X A A
+ --hard A A A
+ --merge A A A
+ --keep (disallowed)
+
+X means any state and U means an unmerged index.
+
+
Author
------
Written by Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> and Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>