# git-reset

## NAME



           git-reset - Reset current HEAD to the specified state
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **git reset**[**-q**] [_< tree-ish>_] [**--**] _< pathspec>_...
           **git reset**[**-q**] [**--pathspec-from-file=**_< file>_ [**--pathspec-file-nul**]] [_< tree-ish>_]
           **git reset**(**--patch** | **-p**) [_< tree-ish>_] [**--**] [_< pathspec>_...]
           **git reset**[**--soft** | **--mixed**[**-N**] | **--hard** | **--merge** | **--keep**] [**-q**] [_< commit>_]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           In the first three forms, copy entries from _< tree-ish>_ to the
           index. In the last form, set the current branch head (**HEAD**) to
           _< commit>_, optionally modifying index and working tree to match.
           The _< tree-ish>_/_< commit>_ defaults to **HEAD** in all forms.
    
           **git reset**[**-q**] [_< tree-ish>_] [**--**] _< pathspec>_..., **git reset**[**-q**]
           [**--pathspec-from-file=**_< file>_ [**--pathspec-file-nul**]] [_< tree-ish>_]
               These forms reset the index entries for all paths that match
               the _< pathspec>_ to their state at _< tree-ish>_. (It does not
               affect the working tree or the current branch.)
    
               This means that **git reset** _< pathspec>_ is the opposite of **git**
               **add** _< pathspec>_. This command is equivalent to **git restore**
               [**--source=**_< tree-ish>_] **--staged** _< pathspec>_....
    
               After running **git reset** _< pathspec>_ to update the index entry,
               you can use git-restore(1) to check the contents out of the
               index to the working tree. Alternatively, using git-restore(1)
               and specifying a commit with **--source** , you can copy the
               contents of a path out of a commit to the index and to the
               working tree in one go.
    
           **git reset**(**--patch** | **-p**) [_< tree-ish>_] [**--**] [_< pathspec>_...]
               Interactively select hunks in the difference between the index
               and _< tree-ish>_ (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** ,
               i.e. you can use it to selectively reset hunks. See the
               "Interactive Mode" section of git-add(1) to learn how to
               operate the **--patch** mode.
    
           **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>_. Before the
               operation, **ORIG_HEAD** is set to the tip of the current branch.
               If _< mode>_ is omitted, defaults to **--mixed**. The _< mode>_ must be
               one of the following:
    
               **--soft**
                   Does not touch the index file or 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.
    
               **--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.
    
                   If **-N** is specified, removed paths are marked as
                   intent-to-add (see git-add(1)).
    
               **--hard**
                   Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked
                   files in the working tree since _< commit>_ are discarded.
                   Any untracked files or directories in the way of writing
                   any tracked files are simply deleted.
    
               **--merge**
                   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.
    
                   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.
    
               **--**[**no-**]**recurse-submodules**
                   When the working tree is updated, using
                   ‘--recurse-submodules` will also recursively reset the
                   working tree of all active submodules according to the
                   commit recorded in the superproject, also setting the
                   submodules’ **HEAD** to be detached at that commit.
    
           See "Reset, restore and revert" in git(1) for the differences
           between the three commands.
    


## OPTIONS



           **-q** , **--quiet**
               Be quiet, only report errors.
    
           **--refresh** , **--no-refresh**
               Refresh the index after a mixed reset. Enabled by default.
    
           **--pathspec-from-file=**_< file>_
               Pathspec is passed in _< file>_ instead of commandline args. If
               _< file>_ is exactly **-** then standard input is used. Pathspec
               elements are separated by _LF_ or _CR_ /_LF_. Pathspec elements can
               be quoted as explained for the configuration variable
               **core.quotePath**(see git-config(1)). See also
               **--pathspec-file-nul** and global **--literal-pathspecs**.
    
           **--pathspec-file-nul**
               Only meaningful with **--pathspec-from-file**. Pathspec elements
               are separated with _NUL_ character and all other characters are
               taken literally (including newlines and quotes).
    
           **-U** _< n>_, **--unified=**_< n>_
               Generate diffs with _< n>_ lines of context. Defaults to
               **diff.context** or 3 if the config option is unset.
    
           **--inter-hunk-context=**_< n>_
               Show the context between diff hunks, up to the specified
               _< number>_ of lines, thereby fusing hunks that are close to each
               other. Defaults to **diff.interHunkContext** or 0 if the config
               option is unset.
    
           **--**
               Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
    
           _< pathspec>_...
               Limits the paths affected by the operation.
    
               For more details, see the _pathspec_ entry in gitglossary(7).
    


## 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 sound 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** or
                   **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
    
                   $ git commit ...
                   $ git reset --soft HEAD^      **(1)**
                   $ edit                        **(2)**
                   $ git commit -a -c ORIG_HEAD  **(3)**
    
                **1.** This is most often done when you remembered what you
                   just committed is incomplete, or you misspelled your
                   commit message, or both. Leaves working tree as it was
                   before "reset".
                **2.** Make corrections to working tree files.
                **3.** "reset" copies the old head to **.git/ORIG_HEAD** ; redo the
                   commit by starting with its log message. If you do not
                   need to edit the message further, you can give **-C**
                   option instead.
    
                   See also the **--amend** option to git-commit(1).
    
           Undo a commit, making it a topic branch
    
                   $ git branch topic/wip          **(1)**
                   $ git reset --hard HEAD~3       **(2)**
                   $ git switch topic/wip          **(3)**
    
                **1.** You have made some commits, but realize they were
                   premature to be in the **master** branch. You want to
                   continue polishing them in a topic branch, so create
                   **topic/wip** branch off of the current **HEAD**.
                **2.** Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three
                   commits.
                **3.** Switch to **topic/wip** branch and keep working.
    
           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 git-rebase(1) for the implications
                   of doing so.)
    
           Undo a merge or pull
    
                   $ git pull                         **(1)**
                   Auto-merging nitfol
                   CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in nitfol
                   Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
                   $ git reset --hard                 **(2)**
                   $ git pull . topic/branch          **(3)**
                   Updating from 41223... to 13134...
                   Fast-forward
                   $ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD       **(4)**
    
                **1.** Try to update from the upstream resulted in a lot of
                   conflicts; you were not ready to spend a lot of time
                   merging right now, so you decide to do that later.
                **2.** "pull" has not made merge commit, so **git reset --hard**
                   which is a synonym for **git reset --hard HEAD** clears the
                   mess from the index file and the working tree.
                **3.** Merge a topic branch into the current branch, which
                   resulted in a fast-forward.
                **4.** But you decided that the topic branch is not ready for
                   public consumption yet. "pull" or "merge" always leaves
                   the original tip of the current branch in **ORIG_HEAD** , so
                   resetting hard to it 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 working tree
    
                   $ git pull                         **(1)**
                   Auto-merging nitfol
                   Merge made by recursive.
                    nitfol                |   20 +++++----
                    ...
                   $ git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD      **(2)**
    
                **1.** Even if you may have local modifications in your
                   working tree, you can safely say **git pull** when you know
                   that the change in the other branch does not overlap
                   with them.
                **2.** After inspecting the result of the merge, you may find
                   that the change in the other branch is unsatisfactory.
                   Running **git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD** will let you go back
                   to where you were, but it will discard your local
                   changes, which you do not want.  **git reset --merge**
                   keeps your local changes.
    
           Interrupted workflow
               Suppose you are interrupted by an urgent fix request while you
               are in the middle of a large change. The files in your working
               tree are not in any shape to be committed yet, but you need to
               get to the other branch for a quick bugfix.
    
                   $ git switch feature  ;# you were working in "feature" branch and
                   $ work work work      ;# got interrupted
                   $ git commit -a -m "snapshot WIP"                 **(1)**
                   $ git switch master
                   $ fix fix fix
                   $ git commit ;# commit with real log
                   $ git switch feature
                   $ git reset --soft HEAD^ ;# go back to WIP state  **(2)**
                   $ git reset                                       **(3)**
    
                **1.** This commit will get blown away so a throw-away log
                   message is OK.
                **2.** This removes the _WIP_ commit from the commit history,
                   and sets your working tree to the state just before you
                   made that snapshot.
                **3.** At this point the index file still has all the WIP
                   changes you committed as _snapshot WIP_. This updates the
                   index to show your WIP files as uncommitted.
    
                   See also git-stash(1).
    
           Reset a single file in the index
               Suppose you have added a file to your index, but later decide
               you do not want to add it to your commit. You can remove the
               file from the index while keeping your changes with git reset.
    
                   $ git reset -- frotz.c                      **(1)**
                   $ git commit -m "Commit files in index"     **(2)**
                   $ git add frotz.c                           **(3)**
    
                **1.** This removes the file from the index while keeping it
                   in the working directory.
                **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 switch -c branch1
                   $ edit
                   $ git commit ...                            **(1)**
                   $ edit
                   $ git switch -c 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 switch -c**
                   **branch2 start**), but nobody is perfect.
                **3.** But you can use **reset --keep** to remove the unwanted
                   commit after you switched to **branch2**.
    
           Split a commit apart into a sequence of commits
               Suppose that you have created lots of logically separate
               changes and committed them together. Then, later you decide
               that it might be better to have each logical chunk associated
               with its own commit. You can use git reset to rewind history
               without changing the contents of your local files, and then
               successively use **git add -p** to interactively select which
               hunks to include into each commit, using **git commit -c** to
               pre-populate the commit message.
    
                   $ git reset -N HEAD^                        **(1)**
                   $ git add -p                                **(2)**
                   $ git diff --cached                         **(3)**
                   $ git commit -c HEAD@{1}                    **(4)**
                   ...                                         **(5)**
                   $ git add ...                               **(6)**
                   $ git diff --cached                         **(7)**
                   $ git commit ...                            **(8)**
    
                **1.** First, reset the history back one commit so that we
                   remove the original commit, but leave the working tree
                   with all the changes. The **-N** ensures that any new files
                   added with **HEAD** are still marked so that **git add -p**
                   will find them.
                **2.** Next, we interactively select diff hunks to add using
                   the **git add -p** facility. This will ask you about each
                   diff hunk in sequence and you can use simple commands
                   such as "yes, include this", "No don’t include this" or
                   even the very powerful "edit" facility.
                **3.** Once satisfied with the hunks you want to include, you
                   should verify what has been prepared for the first
                   commit by using **git diff --cached**. This shows all the
                   changes that have been moved into the index and are
                   about to be committed.
                **4.** Next, commit the changes stored in the index. The **-c**
                   option specifies to pre-populate the commit message
                   from the original message that you started with in the
                   first commit. This is helpful to avoid retyping it. The
                   **HEAD@**{1} is a special notation for the commit that **HEAD**
                   used to be at prior to the original reset commit (1
                   change ago). See git-reflog(1) for more details. You
                   may also use any other valid commit reference.
                **5.** You can repeat steps 2-4 multiple times to break the
                   original code into any number of commits.
                **6.** Now you’ve split out many of the changes into their own
                   commits, and might no longer use the patch mode of **git**
                   **add** , in order to select all remaining uncommitted
                   changes.
                **7.** Once again, check to verify that you’ve included what
                   you want to. You may also wish to verify that git diff
                   doesn’t show any remaining changes to be committed
                   later.
                **8.** And finally create the final commit.
    


## 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
    
           **git 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 a local
           change with respect to 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.
    
           **git 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.
    


## GIT



           Part of the git(1) suite
    


* * *