Git Cheat Sheet – Git Commands for Easy Reference

What Is Git?

Git is a Distributed Version Control System (DVCS) for saving different versions of a file (or set of files)—wherein any version is retrievable at will.

Git makes it easy to record and compare different file versions. Consequently, details about what changed, who changed what, or who initiated an issue are reviewable anytime.

Below are some of the widely used Git commands.

Installing and Updating Git

Below are the commands for installing and updating Git on your system.

Description	Command
Install Git	https://git-scm.com/download
Check Git’s installation location	which git
Check the installed Git version	git --version
Update Git (Windows)	git update-git-for-windows
Update Git (Mac)	https://git-scm.com/download/mac

Initializing and Cloning Git

Below are the commands for initializing new local Git repositories or cloning existing Git repositories.

Description	Command
Initialize Git	git init
Clone a Git repository	git clone the-git-repo-url where-to-save-the-cloned-git-folder

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Configuring Git

Below are the commands for configuring, reviewing, and updating users’ information for all local Git repositories.

Description	Command
Configure your Git username	git config --global user.name "Your Name"
Configure your Git email	git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
Check your project’s configurations	git config --list
Check your email configuration	git config user.email
Check your username configuration	git config user.name
Update your username configuration	git config user.name "New Name"
Update your email configuration	git config user.email "[email protected]"
Exit the Git configuration space	Press the Q keyboard key

Tracking Changes

Below are the commands for monitoring changes to files or folders.

Description	Command
Check the status of your files	git status
Stage a specific file (or folder)	git add file-or-folder-name Note Replace file-or-folder-name with the file (or directory)‘s pathname.
Stage all modified and untracked files	git add -A Note The -A flag is a shorthand for --all.
Stage the current directory’s modified and untracked files	git add . Note The dot symbol means “current directory.”
Stage all modified files that you’ve committed previously	git add -u Note The -u flag is a shorthand for --update.
Compare the working directory and staging area’s file versions	git diff
Compare the staging area’s file version with the most recently committed version	git diff --staged

Undoing the Staging of files

Below are the commands for undoing the staging of files.

Description	Command
Undo the staging of a specific file	git reset HEAD file-to-unstage
Undo the staging of all files	git reset

Committing Files to Git

Below are the commands for saving files to the Git repository.

Description	Command
Commit your files	git commit -m "Write a message about the file(s) you are committing"
Stage and commit at once	git add file-or-folder-name && git commit -m "Your commit message"
Commit without writing a commit message	git commit --amend --no-edit
Modify a previous commit message	How to modify a previous commit message
Commit without staging first	git commit -a
Undo a specific commit	git revert commit-to-undo Note Replace commit-to-undo with the commit you wish to undo—for instance, git revert b91ey04. The git revert command does not delete any data. Instead, it creates a new commit that reverses the changes added to the specified commit.

Viewing Your Commits

Below are the commands for viewing your commits.

Description	Command
See the changes you are about to commit	git commit -v
View your project’s commit history	git log
View a specific number of the project’s commit history (for instance, the last three)	git log -3
Exit the Git console space	Press the Q keyboard key
See all the files currently in the staging area and the Git repository	git ls-files
Check if a specific file or folder is in the Git directory	git ls-files | grep file-or-folder-name Note Replace file-or-folder-name with the file (or directory)‘s pathname.

Ignoring Files

Below are the commands for telling Git to ignore specific files.

Description	Command
Create a .gitignore file	touch .gitignore
See an example of a .gitignore file	Example of a .gitignore file
Open Gitignore’s manual page	git help gitignore Note The Gitignore manual will open in your default browser.

Managing Git Branches

Below are the commands for creating, renaming, deleting, and switching between Git branches.

Description	Command
Check your project’s local branches	git branch Note Git will mark the current branch with an asterisk (*).
Check your project’s remote branches	git branch -a
Create a new branch	git branch new-branch-name
Delete a specific branch	git branch -d branch-to-delete
Rename your project’s HEAD branch	git branch -m branch-new-name
Rename a non-HEAD branch	git branch -m branch-old-name branch-new-name
Switch from one branch to another	git switch branch-name
Switch back to the previous branch	git switch -
Create and switch immediately to a new branch	git switch -c new-branch-name
Switch to a specific commit history	git checkout commit-hash Note A commit hash is a long string that follows the word “commit” in a git log command’s output.
Merge a specific branch into the HEAD branch	git merge name-of-branch-containing-your-changes important Before invoking the merge command, make sure the active branch is the branch you want to merge into. In other words, switch to the branch you wish to update before running the merge command.
Compare branches	git log first-branch-name..second-branch-name

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Sharing Git Repos

Below are the commands for sharing content between local and remote Git repositories.

Description	Command
Link your project’s local and remote repositories	git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/app-repo-name.git Note Replace your-username in the code above with your GitHub username. Likewise, replace app-repo-name with the name of the remote repository you want to connect to.
Confirm the connection between your local and remote repositories	git remote -v
Push your local Git repo to the remote repository	git push -u remote-name branch-name Note Replace remote-name with your remote URL’s short name—for instance, origin. Replace branch-name with your local branch’s name—for instance, main.
Confirm the upload of your local Git repo to the remote repository	Go to your GitHub repository page and refresh the browser.
Undo the pushing of a commit upstream	git revert HEAD git push remote-name branch-name Note Replace remote-name with your remote URL’s short name—for instance, origin. Replace branch-name with your local branch’s name—for instance, main.
Publish your app on GitHub Pages	How to publish your website with GitHub Pages

Deleting Files and Folders

Below are the commands for deleting files and folders from the working directory and Git repository.

Description	Command
Delete a file from the working directory and the Git repository	git rm file-to-delete
Forcefully delete a file from the working directory and the Git repository	git rm -f file-to-delete
Delete a folder from the working directory and the Git repository	git rm -r folder-to-delete
Delete a file only from the staging area—not from the working directory	git rm --cached file-to-delete
Rename a specific file	git mv current-file-name new-file-name
Replace a working directory’s file with its last committed version	git checkout – local-file-to-delete-and-replace