Git commands cheat sheet [2024 Updated]

Do you want to learn some basic GIT commands? You’ve come to the right place. Read our simple cheat sheet that you can use for daily reference.

What is git cheat sheet?

The git cheat sheet is a concise, easy-to-read document for quickly learning how to use some of the most popular and useful commands in the Git environment. It’s designed for beginners who are new to Git and have little or no prior experience with it.

Most Common GIT Commands

A git command cheat sheet is a document that lists the most commonly used commands and their corresponding syntax.
The following is a list of git commands with syntax:

• -git add -A
• -git commit -m “commit message”
• -git push origin master
• -git pull origin master
• -git clone {URL of git repository}

Basic Commands of Git

Here are some basic GIT commands you need to know:

#01: How to setup git config

git config:- can be used to set user-specific configuration values like username, email, file format, and so on.

• set a username that is identifiable for credit when review version history

git config --global user.name

• set an email address that will be associated with each history marker

git config --global user.email

• set automatic command line coloring for Git for easy reviewing

git config --global color.ui auto

• git init:- initialize an existing directory as a Git repository [ following Git command will create a repository in the current directory ]

git init

• retrieve an entire repository from a hosted location from URL

git clone [url]

#02: Git Stage & Snapshot

• git status:- show modified files in working directory, staged for your next commit

git status

• add a file as it looks now to your next commit (stage)

git add [file]

• unstage a file while retaining the changes in working directory

git reset [file]

• diff of what is changed but not staged

git diff

• diff of what is staged but not yet committed

git diff --staged

• commit your staged content as a new commit snapshot

git commit -m "name of working details "

#03: Git Branch & Merge

Isolating work in branches, changing context, and integrating changes

• list your branches. a * will appear next to the currently active branch

git branch

• create a new branch at the current commit

git branch [branch name]

• switch to another branch and check it out into your working directory

git checkout

• merge the specified branch’s history into the current one

git merge [branch]

• show all commits in the current branch’s history

git log

#04: Git Inspect & Compare

Examining logs, diffs and object information

• show all commits in the current branch’s history

git log

• show the commits on branchA that are not on branchB

git log branchB..branchA

• show the commits that changed file, even across renames

git log --follow [file]

• show the diff of what is in branchA that is not in branchB

git diff branchB...branchA

• show any object in Git in human readable format

git show [SHA]

#05: Git Share & Update

Retrieving updates from another repository and updating local repository

• add a git URL as an alias

git remote add [alias] [url]

• merge a remote branch into your current branch to bring it up to date

git merge [alias]/[branch]

• fetch down all the branches from that Git remote

git fetch [alias]

• Transmit local branch commits to the remote repository branch

git push [alias] [branch]

• fetch and merge any commits from the tracking remote branch

git pull

#06: Git Temporary Commits

Temporarily store modified, tracked files in order to change branches

• Save modified and staged changes

git stash

• list stack-order of stashed file changes

git stash list

• write working from top of stash stack

git stash pop

• discard the changes from top of stash stack

git stash drop

#07: Git Tracking Path Changes

Versioning file removes and path changes

• delete the file from project and stage the removal for commit

git rm [file]

• change an existing file path and stage the move

git mv [existing-path] [new-path]

• show all commit logs with indication of any paths that moved

git log --stat -M

#08: Git Remote Management

git remote add [alias] [url]: Add a remote repository URL as an alias.
git remote -v: View remote repositories along with their URLs.
git remote rm [alias]: Remove a remote repository alias.
git remote rename [old-alias] [new-alias]: Rename a remote repository alias.

#09: Git Remote Management

git fetch [remote]: Download objects and refs from another repository.
git merge [remote]/[branch]: Merge changes from a remote branch into the current branch.
git pull [remote] [branch]: Fetch and merge changes from a remote repository.
git push [remote] [branch]: Push local branch commits to a remote repository.

#10: Git Tagging & Versioning

git tag [tagname]: Create a lightweight tag at the current commit.
git tag -a [tagname] -m "tag message": Create an annotated tag with a message.
git tag -l: List all tags.
git push [remote] [tagname]: Push tags to a remote repository.
git push --tags: Push all tags to a remote repository.

#11: Git Stash Management

git stash: Stash changes in the working directory.
git stash list: List all stashed changes.
git stash pop: Apply the most recent stash and remove it from the stack.
git stash apply [stash@{n}]: Apply a specific stash without removing it from the stack.
git stash drop [stash@{n}]: Remove a specific stash from the stack.

#12: Git Submodule Operations

git submodule add [repository] [path]: Add a submodule to the repository.
git submodule init: Initialize submodules.
git submodule update: Update submodules to the latest commit.
git submodule foreach [command]: Run a command in each submodule.

#13: Git Ignore & Exclude Patterns

.gitignore: Create or modify the .gitignore file to specify intentionally untracked files.
.git/info/exclude: Exclude files locally without committing to the repository.

#14: Git Bisect for Troubleshooting

git bisect start: Start the bisecting process.
git bisect bad: Mark the current commit as bad.
git bisect good [commit]: Mark a specific commit as good.
git bisect reset: Finish the bisecting process and return to the original branch.

#15: Git Bisect for Troubleshooting

git rebase -i [base]: Start an interactive rebase session.
pick: Keep the commit unchanged.
reword: Keep the commit but edit the commit message.
edit: Pause rebase to amend the commit.
squash: Combine the commit with the previous one.
drop: Remove the commit from the history.

How to rollback an old commit in Git:

You can revert an old commit using its commit id. This opens the editor so you can add a commit message.

git revert [commit id here]

How to delete a branch in Git:

you can delete a branch using the command below:

git branch -d [branch name]

Git MCQ questions and answers

Conclusion

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

The git cheat sheet will provide you with the most basic commands that are used by developers on a daily basis. If you think I have miss an important command or would like to add to the discussion, do leave a comment below.