🚀 Git Cheatsheet

A comprehensive, all-in-one reference for every Git command you'll ever need. Whether you're a beginner learning version control for the first time, a seasoned developer looking for a quick refresher, or preparing for a DevOps / software engineering interview — this is your quick guide. It covers repository setup, branching strategies, history inspection, remote collaboration, undoing mistakes, rewriting history, and much more. Each section includes concise descriptions and a full hands-on practice scenario so you can learn by doing.

⭐ Star this repo if you find it useful — it helps others discover it too!

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📑 Table of Contents

1. ⚙️ Setup & Configuration
2. 📁 Creating Repositories
3. 📸 Staging & Snapshots
4. 🌿 Branching & Merging
5. 🔍 Inspecting & Comparing
6. 🌐 Sharing & Updating (Remote)
7. ⏪ Undoing Changes
8. ✏️ Rewriting History
9. 📦 Stashing
10. 🏷️ Tagging
11. 🍒 Cherry-Pick
12. 📂 Submodules
13. 🌳 Worktrees
14. 🐛 Bisect (Bug Hunting)
15. 🛟 Reflog (Safety Net)
16. 🩹 Patches
17. 🧹 Cleaning
18. 📦 Archive & Bundle
19. 🕵️ Blame & Annotate
20. 🪝 Hooks
21. ⚡ Aliases
22. 🧪 Practice Scenario
23. 🤝 Contributing
24. ☕ Buy Me a Coffee
25. 📄 License

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1. ⚙️ Setup & Configuration

Command	Description
git config --global user.name "Your Name"	Set your global username
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"	Set your global email
git config --list	List all current configuration settings
git config --global core.editor "vim"	Set default text editor
git config --global init.defaultBranch main	Set default branch name for new repos
git config --global color.ui auto	Enable colored output
git config --global alias.st status	Create a shortcut alias
git config --global credential.helper cache	Cache credentials in memory temporarily
git config --global pull.rebase true	Default to rebase on pull instead of merge
git config --global merge.conflictstyle diff3	Show base version in merge conflicts
git config --local user.email "work@company.com"	Set repo-specific config (overrides global)

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2. 📁 Creating Repositories

Command	Description
git init	Initialize a new Git repo in the current directory
git init <directory>	Create a new repo in the specified directory
git init --bare	Create a bare repo (no working directory, for servers)
git clone <url>	Clone a remote repo to your local machine
git clone <url> <directory>	Clone into a specific directory name
git clone --depth 1 <url>	Shallow clone — only the latest commit (faster)
git clone --branch <branch> <url>	Clone a specific branch
git clone --recursive <url>	Clone including all submodules

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3. 📸 Staging & Snapshots

Command	Description
git status	Show the working tree status
git status -s	Short-format status output
git add <file>	Stage a specific file
git add .	Stage all changes in current directory and subdirectories
git add -A	Stage all changes across the entire repo
git add -p	Interactively stage hunks of changes
git add *.js	Stage all files matching a pattern
git rm <file>	Remove a file and stage the deletion
git rm --cached <file>	Unstage a file but keep it on disk
git mv <old> <new>	Rename/move a file and stage the change
git commit -m "message"	Commit staged changes with a message
git commit -am "message"	Stage all tracked file changes and commit
git commit --amend	Modify the last commit (message or content)
git commit --amend --no-edit	Add staged changes to the last commit silently
git commit --allow-empty -m "msg"	Create a commit with no file changes
git commit -S -m "message"	Create a GPG-signed commit

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4. 🌿 Branching & Merging

Command	Description
git branch	List local branches
git branch -a	List all branches (local + remote)
git branch -r	List remote-tracking branches only
git branch <name>	Create a new branch
git branch -d <name>	Delete a branch (safe — only if merged)
git branch -D <name>	Force-delete a branch
git branch -m <old> <new>	Rename a branch
git branch -m <new>	Rename the current branch
git branch --merged	List branches already merged into current
git branch --no-merged	List branches not yet merged
git branch -vv	Show branches with last commit and tracking info
git checkout <branch>	Switch to an existing branch
git checkout -b <branch>	Create and switch to a new branch
git checkout -b <branch> <remote>/<branch>	Create a local branch tracking a remote branch
git checkout -- <file>	Discard changes to a file in working directory
git switch <branch>	Switch branches (modern alternative to checkout)
git switch -c <branch>	Create and switch to a new branch
git merge <branch>	Merge a branch into the current branch
git merge --no-ff <branch>	Merge with a merge commit (no fast-forward)
git merge --squash <branch>	Squash all commits from branch into one staged change
git merge --abort	Abort an in-progress merge
git rebase <branch>	Rebase current branch onto another branch
git rebase -i HEAD~<n>	Interactive rebase for the last n commits
git rebase --onto <new> <old> <branch>	Rebase a range of commits onto a new base
git rebase --abort	Abort an in-progress rebase
git rebase --continue	Continue rebase after resolving conflicts

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5. 🔍 Inspecting & Comparing

Command	Description
git log	Show commit history
git log --oneline	Compact one-line-per-commit log
git log --oneline --graph --all	Visual graph of all branches
git log --stat	Show files changed in each commit
git log -p	Show full diffs for each commit
git log -n <number>	Show only the last n commits
git log --author="name"	Filter commits by author
git log --since="2024-01-01"	Commits after a date
git log --until="2024-12-31"	Commits before a date
git log --grep="keyword"	Search commit messages
git log -S "string"	Find commits that added or removed a string (pickaxe)
git log -- <file>	History of a specific file
git log --follow <file>	Track a file across renames
git log <branch1>..<branch2>	Commits in branch2 not in branch1
git log --pretty=format:"%h %an %s"	Custom formatted log
git shortlog -sn	Summarize commits per author
git diff	Show unstaged changes
git diff --staged	Show staged changes (also --cached)
git diff <branch1>..<branch2>	Diff between two branches
git diff <commit1>..<commit2>	Diff between two commits
git diff --name-only	List only the names of changed files
git diff --stat	Summary of changes (insertions/deletions)
git diff --word-diff	Inline word-level diff
git show <commit>	Show details and diff of a specific commit
git show <commit>:<file>	Show a file as it was at a specific commit

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6. 🌐 Sharing & Updating (Remote)

Command	Description
git remote	List remote names
git remote -v	List remotes with URLs
git remote add <name> <url>	Add a new remote
git remote remove <name>	Remove a remote
git remote rename <old> <new>	Rename a remote
git remote set-url <name> <url>	Change a remote's URL
git remote show <name>	Show info about a remote
git fetch	Download objects/refs from remote (don't merge)
git fetch --all	Fetch from all remotes
git fetch --prune	Fetch and remove stale remote-tracking branches
git fetch <remote> <branch>	Fetch a specific branch
git pull	Fetch and merge remote changes
git pull --rebase	Fetch and rebase instead of merge
git pull <remote> <branch>	Pull a specific remote branch
git push	Push commits to the tracked remote branch
git push <remote> <branch>	Push to a specific remote/branch
git push -u origin <branch>	Push and set upstream tracking
git push --all	Push all local branches
git push --tags	Push all tags
git push --force	Force push (overwrites remote — use with care)
git push --force-with-lease	Safer force push — fails if remote was updated
git push origin --delete <branch>	Delete a remote branch
git push origin :<branch>	Shorthand to delete a remote branch

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7. ⏪ Undoing Changes

Command	Description
git checkout -- <file>	Discard unstaged changes to a file
git restore <file>	Discard unstaged changes (modern syntax)
git restore --staged <file>	Unstage a file (keep changes in working dir)
git reset <file>	Unstage a file (legacy syntax)
git reset	Unstage everything but keep working dir changes
git reset --soft HEAD~1	Undo last commit, keep changes staged
git reset --mixed HEAD~1	Undo last commit, keep changes unstaged (default)
git reset --hard HEAD~1	Undo last commit and discard all changes
git reset --hard <commit>	Reset branch to a specific commit (destructive)
git revert <commit>	Create a new commit that undoes a specific commit
git revert --no-commit <commit>	Revert changes without auto-committing
git revert HEAD~3..HEAD	Revert the last 3 commits
git clean -fd	Remove untracked files and directories
git clean -n	Dry run — show what would be removed
git checkout <commit> -- <file>	Restore a file from a specific commit

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8. ✏️ Rewriting History

Command	Description
git rebase -i HEAD~<n>	Interactively edit/squash/reorder the last n commits
git commit --amend	Edit the most recent commit
git filter-branch --tree-filter '<cmd>' HEAD	Rewrite history by running a command on each commit
git filter-repo --path <file> --invert-paths	Remove a file from entire history (use git-filter-repo)
git reflog	View the reflog to recover lost commits
git reset --hard <reflog-entry>	Recover to a reflog state

⚠️ Warning: Rewriting history on shared branches can cause problems for collaborators. Only rewrite history on local/feature branches.

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9. 📦 Stashing

Command	Description
git stash	Stash current uncommitted changes
git stash push -m "description"	Stash with a descriptive message
git stash list	List all stashes
git stash show	Show a summary of the latest stash
git stash show -p	Show full diff of the latest stash
git stash show stash@{n}	Show a specific stash
git stash pop	Apply the latest stash and remove it
git stash apply	Apply the latest stash but keep it in the list
git stash apply stash@{n}	Apply a specific stash
git stash drop stash@{n}	Delete a specific stash
git stash clear	Remove all stashes
git stash branch <name>	Create a branch from a stash
git stash push -p	Interactively select hunks to stash
git stash --include-untracked	Stash including untracked files
git stash --all	Stash including ignored files

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10. 🏷️ Tagging

Command	Description
git tag	List all tags
git tag <name>	Create a lightweight tag
git tag -a <name> -m "message"	Create an annotated tag with a message
git tag -a <name> <commit>	Tag a specific past commit
git tag -d <name>	Delete a local tag
git push origin <tag>	Push a specific tag to remote
git push origin --tags	Push all tags to remote
git push origin --delete <tag>	Delete a remote tag
git show <tag>	Show tag details
git describe --tags	Describe current commit relative to nearest tag
git tag -l "v1.*"	List tags matching a pattern

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11. 🍒 Cherry-Pick

Command	Description
git cherry-pick <commit>	Apply a specific commit to the current branch
git cherry-pick <c1> <c2> <c3>	Cherry-pick multiple commits
git cherry-pick <start>..<end>	Cherry-pick a range of commits
git cherry-pick --no-commit <commit>	Apply changes without committing
git cherry-pick --abort	Abort an in-progress cherry-pick
git cherry-pick --continue	Continue after resolving conflicts

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12. 📂 Submodules

Command	Description
git submodule add <url> <path>	Add a submodule
git submodule init	Initialize submodule configuration
git submodule update	Fetch and checkout submodule commits
git submodule update --init --recursive	Initialize and update all submodules recursively
git submodule status	Show the status of submodules
git submodule foreach '<cmd>'	Run a command in each submodule
git submodule deinit <path>	Unregister a submodule
git rm <submodule-path>	Remove a submodule

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13. 🌳 Worktrees

Command	Description
git worktree add <path> <branch>	Create a new working tree for a branch
git worktree add -b <new-branch> <path>	Create a new branch in a new worktree
git worktree list	List all linked worktrees
git worktree remove <path>	Remove a linked worktree
git worktree prune	Clean up stale worktree metadata

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14. 🐛 Bisect (Bug Hunting)

Command	Description
git bisect start	Begin a bisect session
git bisect bad	Mark current commit as bad (has the bug)
git bisect good <commit>	Mark a commit as good (no bug)
git bisect reset	End the bisect session
git bisect skip	Skip the current commit
git bisect log	Show the bisect log
git bisect run <script>	Automate bisect with a test script

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15. 🛟 Reflog (Safety Net)

Command	Description
git reflog	Show history of HEAD movements
git reflog show <branch>	Show reflog for a specific branch
git reflog expire --expire=30.days	Expire reflog entries older than 30 days
git reset --hard HEAD@{n}	Restore HEAD to a reflog entry
git checkout HEAD@{n}	Check out a previous HEAD state

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16. 🩹 Patches

Command	Description
git format-patch <commit>	Create patch files for commits since the given commit
git format-patch -1 <commit>	Create a patch for a single commit
git format-patch -n HEAD~<n>	Create patches for the last n commits
git am <patch-file>	Apply a patch file
git am --abort	Abort patch application
git apply <patch-file>	Apply a patch without creating a commit
git diff > changes.patch	Export unstaged changes as a patch file
git apply changes.patch	Apply a diff-format patch

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17. 🧹 Cleaning

Command	Description
git clean -n	Dry run — preview files that would be removed
git clean -f	Remove untracked files
git clean -fd	Remove untracked files and directories
git clean -fx	Remove untracked and ignored files
git clean -fX	Remove only ignored files
git clean -fdx	Remove everything not tracked (nuclear option)
git gc	Run garbage collection
git gc --aggressive	More thorough garbage collection
git prune	Remove unreachable objects

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18. 📦 Archive & Bundle

Command	Description
git archive --format=zip HEAD > repo.zip	Create a zip of the current HEAD
git archive --format=tar HEAD > repo.tar	Create a tarball of HEAD
git archive --format=zip --prefix=project/ HEAD > project.zip	Archive with a directory prefix
git bundle create repo.bundle --all	Create a bundle of the entire repo
git bundle create repo.bundle main	Bundle a specific branch
git clone repo.bundle	Clone from a bundle file
git bundle verify repo.bundle	Verify a bundle file

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19. 🕵️ Blame & Annotate

Command	Description
git blame <file>	Show who last modified each line
git blame -L <start>,<end> <file>	Blame a specific line range
git blame -w <file>	Ignore whitespace changes in blame
git blame -C <file>	Detect lines moved or copied from other files
git blame --since="3 weeks ago" <file>	Only show recent blame entries
git annotate <file>	Similar to blame with slightly different output
git log -p -S "function_name" -- <file>	Track how a specific piece of code evolved

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20. 🪝 Hooks

Git hooks are scripts that run automatically at certain lifecycle events. They live in .git/hooks/.

Hook	Trigger
pre-commit	Before a commit is created
prepare-commit-msg	Before the commit message editor opens
commit-msg	After the commit message is entered (validate it)
post-commit	After a commit is created
pre-push	Before a push is executed
pre-rebase	Before a rebase starts
post-merge	After a merge is completed
post-checkout	After a checkout or switch
pre-receive	Server-side: before refs are updated
post-receive	Server-side: after refs are updated

Example — Create a pre-commit hook that runs linting:

cat > .git/hooks/pre-commit << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
npm run lint
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Lint failed. Commit aborted."
  exit 1
fi
EOF
chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

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21. ⚡ Aliases

Speed up your workflow with aliases:

git config --global alias.st   "status"
git config --global alias.co   "checkout"
git config --global alias.br   "branch"
git config --global alias.ci   "commit"
git config --global alias.lg   "log --oneline --graph --all --decorate"
git config --global alias.last "log -1 HEAD"
git config --global alias.unstage "reset HEAD --"
git config --global alias.undo "reset --soft HEAD~1"
git config --global alias.wip  "commit -am 'WIP'"
git config --global alias.aliases "config --get-regexp alias"

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22. 🧪 Practice Scenario

Below is a hands-on scenario that walks through most Git commands. Run these in your terminal to practice.

🏁 Setup

mkdir git-practice && cd git-practice
git init
git config user.name "Practice User"
git config user.email "practice@example.com"

🌿 Stage, Commit, Branch, Merge

# Create a file and make the first commit
echo "# My Project" > README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "Initial commit"

# Create a feature branch and add work
git checkout -b feature/login
echo "def login(user, password):" > auth.py
echo "    return True" >> auth.py
git add auth.py
git commit -m "Add login function"

# Make another change on the feature branch
echo "def logout(user):" >> auth.py
echo "    return True" >> auth.py
git add auth.py
git commit -m "Add logout function"

# Switch back to main and merge the feature
git checkout main
git merge --no-ff feature/login -m "Merge feature/login into main"

# Check the visual log
git log --oneline --graph --all

📦 Stash, Tag, and Remote Simulation

# Start new work but need to switch context
echo "TODO: add password hashing" >> auth.py
git stash push -m "wip: password hashing"

# Do a quick fix on main
echo "v1.0" > VERSION
git add VERSION
git commit -m "Add version file"

# Tag the release
git tag -a v1.0 -m "First stable release"

# Restore stashed work
git stash pop
git add auth.py
git commit -m "Add password hashing TODO"

🔀 Rebase, Cherry-Pick, and Reset

# Create two parallel branches
git checkout -b feature/signup
echo "def signup(email):" > signup.py
echo "    return True" >> signup.py
git add signup.py
git commit -m "Add signup function"

git checkout main
echo "Updated README" >> README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "Update README"

# Rebase feature branch onto updated main
git checkout feature/signup
git rebase main

# Cherry-pick a commit to a hotfix branch
git checkout main
git checkout -b hotfix/urgent
git cherry-pick feature/signup   # picks the tip of feature/signup

# Undo the cherry-pick with reset
git reset --soft HEAD~1
git status   # changes are staged but uncommitted
git reset    # unstage everything
git checkout main

🔍 Diff, Blame, and Bisect

# View diffs
echo "extra line" >> README.md
git diff                    # unstaged changes
git add README.md
git diff --staged           # staged changes

# Blame a file
git blame auth.py

# Simulate bisect (mark commits)
git bisect start
git bisect bad              # current commit is bad
git bisect good v1.0        # v1.0 was good
# Git checks out a midpoint; test, then:
git bisect reset            # end the session

🧹 Clean Up

# Create some untracked files
touch temp1.txt temp2.txt
mkdir temp_dir && touch temp_dir/junk.txt

# Preview and clean
git clean -n                # dry run
git clean -fd               # remove untracked files and dirs

# Delete merged branches
git branch --merged | grep -v "main" | xargs git branch -d

# Final state
git log --oneline --graph --all

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🗂️ Quick Reference Card

Working Dir  ──git add──▶  Staging  ──git commit──▶  Local Repo  ──git push──▶  Remote
     ◀──git restore──       ◀──git restore --staged──      ◀──git pull──

I want to...	Command
💾 Save my work	git commit -am "msg"
↩️ Undo last commit (keep files)	git reset --soft HEAD~1
🗑️ Undo last commit (lose files)	git reset --hard HEAD~1
👀 See what changed	git diff
📜 See commit history	git log --oneline
🔀 Switch branches	git switch <branch>
📦 Save work temporarily	git stash
📤 Get work back	git stash pop
🔙 Undo a pushed commit safely	git revert <commit>
🕵️ Find who changed a line	git blame <file>
🐛 Find which commit broke something	git bisect start
🛟 Recover something lost	git reflog

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23. 🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you'd like to improve this cheatsheet — fix a typo, add a missing command, or suggest a better example — here's how:

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a branch for your change:

   git checkout -b improve-cheatsheet

3. Make your edits and commit with a clear message:

   git commit -m "Add missing git sparse-checkout commands"

4. Push your branch and open a Pull Request:

   git push origin improve-cheatsheet

5. Describe what you changed and why in the PR description.

Guidelines:

• Keep commands and descriptions concise.
• Follow the existing table format.
• Test any practice scenario steps you add.
• One topic per PR keeps reviews fast.

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24. ☕ Buy Me a Coffee

If this cheatsheet saved you time or helped you learn something new, consider buying me a coffee!

https://buymeacoffee.com/connectankush

Your support and feedback are valuable in maintaining and improving this resource. 🙏

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25. 📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Happy Gitting! 🎉