Git Branching

Creating a new branch¶

To create a new branch, while staying on the current branch, use:

git branch <name>

Generally, the branch name must not contain spaces and is subject to other specifications listed here.

Switching between branches¶

To switch to an existing branch:

git switch <name>

To create a new branch and switch to it:

git switch -c <name>

To create a branch at a point other than the last commit of the current branch (also known as HEAD), use either of these commands:

git branch <name> [<start-point>]
git switch -c <name> [<start-point>]

The <start-point> can be any revision known to git (e.g. another branch name, commit SHA, or a symbolic reference such as HEAD or a tag name):

git switch -c <name> some_other_branch
git switch -c <name> af295
git switch -c <name> HEAD~5
git switch -c <name> v1.0.5

To create a branch from a remote branch (the default <remote_name> is origin):

git switch -c <name> <remote_name>/<branch_name>

If a given branch name is only found on one remote, you can simply use

git switch <branch_name>

git switch  -

git branch newBranch
git reset --hard HEAD~2  # Go back 2 commits, you will lose uncommitted work.
git switch newBranch

A - B - C - D - E (HEAD)
                ↑
              master

            newBranch
                ↓
A - B - C - D - E (HEAD)
                ↑
              master

            newBranch
                ↓
A - B - C - D - E (HEAD)
        ↑
      master

            newBranch
                ↓
A - B - C - D - E (HEAD)
        ↑
      master

Listing branches¶

Git provides multiple commands for listing branches. All commands use the function of git branch, which will provide a list of a certain branches, depending on which options are put on the command line. Git will if possible, indicate the currently selected branch with a star next to it.

Deleting a branch¶

Remote branch¶

To delete a branch on the origin remote repository, you can use:

git push origin --delete <branchName>

Local branch¶

To delete a local branch. Note that this will not delete the branch if it has any unmerged changes:

git branch -d <branchName>

To delete a branch, even if it has unmerged changes:

git branch -D <branchName>

Rename a branch¶

Rename the branch you have checked out:

git branch -m new_branch_name

Rename another branch:

git branch -m branch_you_want_to_rename new_branch_name

Searching in branches¶

To list local branches that contain a specific commit or tag

git branch --contains <commit>

To list local and remote branches that contain a specific commit or tag

git branch -a --contains <commit>

Push branch to remote¶

Use to push commits made on your local branch to a remote repository.

The git push command takes two arguments:

• A remote name, for example, origin
• A branch name, for example, master

For example:

git push <REMOTENAME> <BRANCHNAME>

As an example, you usually run git push origin master to push your local changes to your online repository.

Using -u (short for --set-upstream) will set up the tracking information during the push.

git push -u <REMOTENAME> <BRANCHNAME>

git push <REMOTENAME> <LOCALBRANCHNAME>:<REMOTEBRANCHNAME>

Create an orphan branch (branch with no parent commit)¶

git switch --orphan new-orphan-branch

The first commit made on this new branch will have no parents and it will be the root of a new history totally disconnected from all the other branches and commits.

Move current branch HEAD to an arbitrary commit¶

A branch is just a pointer to a commit, so you can freely move it around. To make it so that the branch is referring to the commit aabbcc, issue the command

git reset --hard aabbcc

Please note that this will overwrite your branch's current commit, and as so, its entire history. You might loose some work by issuing this command. If that's the case, you can use the reflog to recover the lost commits. It can be advised to perform this command on a new branch instead of your current one.

However, this command can be particularly useful when rebasing or doing such other large history modifications.

Command Summary¶

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