NAME
----
-git-checkout - Checkout and switch to a branch
+git-checkout - Checkout a branch or paths to the working tree
SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git-checkout' [-f] [-b <new_branch>] [-m] [<branch>]
-'git
-checkout' [-m] [<branch>] <paths>...
+'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [--track | --no-track] [-b <new_branch> [-l]] [-m] [<branch>]
+'git
checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [<tree-ish>] [--] <paths>...
DESCRIPTION
-----------
updating the index and working tree to reflect the specified
branch, <branch>, and updating HEAD to be <branch> or, if
specified, <new_branch>. Using -b will cause <new_branch> to
-be created.
+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
+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 (i.e. it runs `git-checkout-index -f -u`). In
-this case, `-f` and `-b` options are meaningless and giving
-either of them results in an error. <branch> argument can be
-used to specify a specific tree-ish to update the index for the
-given paths before updating the working tree.
+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
+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.
+The index may contain unmerged entries after a failed merge. By
+default, if you try to check out such an entry from the index, the
+checkout operation will fail and nothing will be checked out.
+Using -f will ignore these unmerged entries. The contents from a
+specific side of the merge can be checked out of the index by
+using --ours or --theirs. With -m, changes made to the working tree
+file can be discarded to recreate the original conflicted merge result.
OPTIONS
-------
+-q::
+ Quiet, suppress feedback messages.
+
-f::
- Force a re-read of everything.
+ When switching branches, proceed even if the index or the
+ working tree differs from HEAD. This is used to throw away
+ local changes.
++
+When checking out paths from the index, do not fail upon unmerged
+entries; instead, unmerged entries are ignored.
+
+--ours::
+--theirs::
+ When checking out paths from the index, check out stage #2
+ ('ours') or #3 ('theirs') for unmerged paths.
-b::
- Create a new branch and start it at <branch>.
+ Create a new branch named <new_branch> and start it at
+ <branch>. The new branch name must pass all checks defined
+ by linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
+ may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.
+
+-t::
+--track::
+ When creating a new branch, set up configuration so that 'git-pull'
+ will automatically retrieve data from the start point, which must be
+ a branch. Use this if you always pull from the same upstream branch
+ into the new branch, and if you don't want to use "git pull
+ <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
+ given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the
+ 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
+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
+"refs/remotes/origin/hack"). If the given name has no slash, or the above
+guessing results in an empty name, the guessing is aborted. You can
+explicitly give a name with '-b' in such a case.
+
+--no-track::
+ Ignore the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable.
+
+-l::
+ Create the new branch's reflog. This activates recording of
+ all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date
+ based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}".
-m::
- If you have local modifications to one or more files that
+--merge::
+ When switching branches,
+ if you have local modifications to one or more files that
are different between the current branch and the branch to
which you are switching, the command refuses to switch
branches in order to preserve your modifications in context.
+
When a merge conflict happens, the index entries for conflicting
paths are left unmerged, and you need to resolve the conflicts
-and mark the resolved paths with `git update-index`.
+and mark the resolved paths with `git add` (or `git rm` if the merge
+should result in deletion of the path).
++
+When checking out paths from the index, this option lets you recreate
+the conflicted merge in the specified paths.
+
+--conflict=<style>::
+ The same as --merge option above, but changes the way the
+ conflicting hunks are presented, overriding the
+ merge.conflictstyle configuration variable. Possible values are
+ "merge" (default) and "diff3" (in addition to what is shown by
+ "merge" style, shows the original contents).
<new_branch>::
Name for the new branch.
<branch>::
Branch to checkout; may be any object ID that resolves to a
- commit. Defaults to HEAD.
+ commit. Defaults to HEAD.
++
+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
+checks out the branch (instead of detaching). You may also specify
+"`-`" which is synonymous with "`@\{-1\}`".
+
+
+Detached HEAD
+-------------
+
+It is sometimes useful to be able to 'checkout' a commit that is
+not at the tip of one of your branches. The most obvious
+example is to check out the commit at a tagged official release
+point, like this:
+
+------------
+$ git checkout v2.6.18
+------------
+
+Earlier versions of git did not allow this and asked you to
+create a temporary branch using `-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).
+
+You can use usual 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
+merge $othercommit`.
+
+The state you are in while your HEAD is detached is not recorded
+by any branch (which is natural --- you are not on any branch).
+What this means is that you can discard your temporary commits
+and merges by switching back to an existing branch (e.g. `git
+checkout master`), and a later `git prune` or `git gc` would
+garbage-collect them. If you did this by mistake, you can ask
+the reflog for HEAD where you were, e.g.
+
+------------
+$ git log -g -2 HEAD
+------------
EXAMPLES
mistake, and gets it back from the index.
+
------------
-$ git checkout master <1>
-$ git checkout master~2 Makefile <2>
+$ git checkout master <1>
+$ git checkout master~2 Makefile <2>
$ rm -f hello.c
-$ git checkout hello.c <3>
-
+$ git checkout hello.c <3>
+------------
++
<1> switch branch
<2> take out a file out of other commit
-<3> or "git checkout -- hello.c", as in the next example.
-------------
+<3> restore hello.c from HEAD of current branch
+
-If you have an unfortunate branch that is named `hello.c`, the
-last step above would be confused as an instruction to switch to
-that branch. You should instead write:
+If you have an unfortunate branch that is named `hello.c`, this
+step would be confused as an instruction to switch to that branch.
+You should instead write:
+
------------
$ git checkout -- hello.c
------------
$ git checkout -m mytopic
Auto-merging frotz
-merge: warning: conflicts during merge
ERROR: Merge conflict in frotz
fatal: merge program failed
------------
At this point, `git diff` shows the changes cleanly merged as in
the previous example, as well as the changes in the conflicted
files. Edit and resolve the conflict and mark it resolved with
-`git update-index` as usual:
+`git add` as usual:
+
------------
$ edit frotz
-$ git update-index frotz
+$ git add frotz
------------
GIT
---
-Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
-
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite