all problems

every git undo scenario we cover, organized by category.

PUSHING

pushed bad commits

Revert commits you shouldn't have pushed to the remote.

$ git revert HEAD

pushed secrets

Credentials in your history. Rotate keys and scrub with BFG.

$ bfg --delete-files .env

force-pushed over someone

Overwrote a teammate's work. Recover from their reflog.

COMMITS & STAGING

undo a local commit

Rewind history to before your commit without losing changes.

$ git reset HEAD^

unstage a file

Remove a file from staging without discarding changes.

$ git reset <file>

fix commit message

Update the message on your most recent unpushed commit.

$ git commit --amend

BRANCHES & MERGING

deleted a branch

Recover a branch you accidentally deleted locally or remotely.

merged wrong branch

Undo a merge that brought in the wrong changes.

$ git reset --hard HEAD~1

detached HEAD

You're in detached HEAD and don't know how to get back.

$ git checkout <branch>

FILES & CHANGES

discard unstaged changes

Throw away local modifications you don't want anymore.

$ git checkout -- <file>

add file to existing commit

Forgot a file? Amend it into your last commit.

$ git commit --amend

restore a deleted file

Bring back a tracked file you deleted locally.

$ git checkout -- <file>