🌿 Git Commands Cheatsheet

git clone <url>

Copy a remote repository to your machine.

How engineers say it: "Go ahead and clone the repo."

git status

Show which files are changed, staged, or untracked.

How engineers say it: "What does git status say?"

git add <file>

Stage changes so they'll be in the next commit.

How engineers say it: "Stage the files you want to commit."

git add .

Stage all changes in the current directory.

How engineers say it: "Just add everything."

git commit -m "message"

Save staged changes as a snapshot with a message.

How engineers say it: "Commit it with a clear message."

git push

Upload your local commits to the remote.

How engineers say it: "Push your branch and open a PR."

git pull

Fetch and merge the latest changes from the remote.

How engineers say it: "Pull main before you start."

git log --oneline

Show commit history, one line each.

How engineers say it: "Check the log to see what landed."

git branch

List branches (or create one with a name).

How engineers say it: "What branch are you on?"

git switch <branch>

Move to an existing branch (modern alternative to checkout).

How engineers say it: "Switch to the feature branch."

git switch -c <branch>

Create a new branch and switch to it.

How engineers say it: "Cut a new branch off main."

git checkout <branch>

Switch branches (older, broader command).

How engineers say it: "Check out the release branch."

git merge <branch>

Combine another branch's history into the current one.

How engineers say it: "Merge it into main."

git rebase <branch>

Replay your commits on top of another branch for a linear history.

How engineers say it: "Rebase onto main to clean up the history."

git rebase -i HEAD~3

Interactively edit, reorder, or squash recent commits.

How engineers say it: "Squash these commits into one."

git restore <file>

Discard uncommitted changes to a file.

How engineers say it: "Just restore the file to drop those changes."

git reset <file>

Unstage a file (keep the changes).

How engineers say it: "Un-stage that — reset it."

git reset --hard <commit>

Move the branch and discard all changes after a commit. Destructive.

How engineers say it: "Hard-reset to the last good commit." (careful!)

git revert <commit>

Create a new commit that undoes a previous one. Safe for shared history.

How engineers say it: "Revert the bad commit instead of force-pushing."

git stash

Shelve uncommitted changes to get a clean working tree.

How engineers say it: "Stash your changes and switch branches."

git stash pop

Re-apply the most recently stashed changes.

How engineers say it: "Pop the stash when you're back."

git diff

Show unstaged changes line by line.

How engineers say it: "Let's look at the diff."

git diff --staged

Show changes that are staged for the next commit.

How engineers say it: "Check the staged diff before committing."

git blame <file>

Show who last changed each line and in which commit.

How engineers say it: "Git blame says this was changed last month."

git show <commit>

Show the full details and diff of a single commit.

How engineers say it: "Show me that commit."

git fetch

Download remote changes without merging them.

How engineers say it: "Fetch first so you can see what's new."

git remote -v

List the remotes and their URLs.

How engineers say it: "What does git remote point at?"

git cherry-pick <commit>

Apply a single commit from one branch onto another.

How engineers say it: "Cherry-pick that fix onto the release branch."

git tag v1.2.0

Mark a specific commit, usually for a release.

How engineers say it: "Tag the release and push the tags."