Create a new Git repository in the current directory.

git init
git init my-project

Creates a hidden .git folder. Run this once per project.

Download a repository from GitHub/GitLab to your machine.

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
git clone git@github.com:user/repo.git
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git my-folder

Set your name and email (required for commits).

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
Check current config
git config —list
Set for this repo only (no —global)
git config user.email “work@company.com”

See what's changed, staged, and untracked.

git status
git status -s  # short format

Run this constantly. It's your "where am I?" command.

Stage files for the next commit.

git add file.txt          # stage one file
git add src/              # stage a directory
git add -A                # stage everything (new, modified, deleted)
git add -p                # interactively stage parts of files

git add -p is underrated — it lets you commit only part of a file's changes.

Save staged changes with a message.

git commit -m "Add login page"
git commit -am "Fix typo"          # add + commit tracked files
git commit --amend                  # edit the last commit
git commit --amend --no-edit        # add staged files to last commit

--amend rewrites history — only use on unpushed commits.

See what changed.

git diff                  # unstaged changes
git diff --staged         # staged changes (about to commit)
git diff main..feature    # difference between branches
git diff HEAD~3           # changes in last 3 commits

Temporarily save uncommitted changes.

git stash                 # stash changes
git stash pop             # restore and remove from stash
git stash list            # see all stashes
git stash apply           # restore but keep in stash
git stash drop            # delete a stash

Use when you need to switch branches but aren't ready to commit.

List, create, or delete branches.

git branch                # list local branches
git branch -a             # list all (including remote)
git branch feature        # create new branch
git branch -d feature     # delete (safe — won't delete unmerged)
git branch -D feature     # force delete
git branch -m old new     # rename a branch

Switch between branches.

# Modern way (Git 2.23+)
git switch main
git switch -c new-feature     # create and switch
Classic way
git checkout main
git checkout -b new-feature   # create and switch
Restore a file
git checkout — file.txt      # discard changes to file

git switch is the modern replacement for git checkout for branch switching.

Combine branches.

git merge feature             # merge feature into current branch
git merge --no-ff feature     # always create a merge commit
git merge --abort             # cancel a merge with conflicts

Replay commits on top of another branch. Creates a cleaner history than merge.

git rebase main               # rebase current branch onto main
git rebase -i HEAD~3          # interactive rebase last 3 commits
git rebase --abort            # cancel if something goes wrong

⚠️ Never rebase commits that have been pushed and shared with others.

Upload commits to remote.

git push                          # push current branch
git push origin main              # push to specific remote/branch
git push -u origin feature        # push and set upstream (first time)
git push --force-with-lease       # safe force push (checks for others' changes)

Never use git push --force on shared branches. Use --force-with-lease instead.

Download and merge remote changes.

git pull                      # fetch + merge
git pull --rebase             # fetch + rebase (cleaner history)
git pull origin main          # pull specific branch

git pull --rebase avoids unnecessary merge commits.

Download remote changes without merging.

git fetch                     # fetch all remotes
git fetch origin              # fetch specific remote
git fetch --prune             # remove deleted remote branches

Use fetch when you want to see what changed before merging.

Manage remote connections.

git remote -v                         # list remotes
git remote add origin <url>           # add a remote
git remote set-url origin <new-url>   # change remote URL
git remote remove origin              # remove a remote

View commit history.

git log                           # full log
git log --oneline                 # compact (one line per commit)
git log --oneline --graph         # visual branch graph
git log --author="name"           # filter by author
git log -5                        # last 5 commits
git log -- file.txt               # history of specific file

Show details of a specific commit.

git show abc1234              # show commit details + diff
git show HEAD                 # show latest commit
git show main:file.txt        # show file from another branch

See who changed each line of a file.

git blame file.txt
git blame -L 10,20 file.txt   # only lines 10-20

Undo commits or unstage files.

git reset HEAD file.txt       # unstage a file
git reset --soft HEAD~1       # undo last commit, keep changes staged
git reset --mixed HEAD~1      # undo last commit, keep changes unstaged
git reset --hard HEAD~1       # undo last commit, DELETE changes

⚠️ --hard permanently deletes changes. Use with caution.

Create a new commit that undoes a previous commit. Safe for shared branches.

git revert abc1234            # revert a specific commit
git revert HEAD               # revert the last commit

Unlike reset, this doesn't rewrite history — safe to use on pushed commits.

Discard changes to files (Git 2.23+).

git restore file.txt              # discard unstaged changes
git restore --staged file.txt     # unstage a file
git restore --source=HEAD~1 file.txt  # restore from previous commit

Mark specific commits (usually for releases).

git tag v1.0.0                    # lightweight tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release"   # annotated tag (recommended)
git tag                           # list tags
git push origin v1.0.0            # push a tag
git push origin --tags            # push all tags