Git is the open source distributed version control system that facilitates GitHub activities on your laptop or desktop. This cheat sheet summarizes commonly used Git command line instructions for quick reference.
GitHub provides desktop clients that include a graphical user interface for the most common repository actions and an automatically updating command line edition of Git for advanced scenarios.
Git distributions for Linux and POSIX systems are available on the official Git SCM website.
Configure user information for all local repositories
$ git config --global user.name "[name]"
Sets the name you want attached to your commit transactions
$ git config --global user.email "[email address]"
Sets the email you want attached to your commit transactions
Start a new repository or obtain one from an existing URL
$ git init [project-name]
Creates a new local repository with the specified name
$ git clone [url]
Downloads a project and its entire version history
Review edits and craft a commit transaction
$ git status
Lists all new or modified files to be committed
$ git diff
Shows file differences not yet staged
$ git add [file]
Snapshots the file in preparation for versioning
$ git diff --staged
Shows file differences between staging and the last file version
$ git reset [file]
Unstages the file, but preserves its contents
$ git commit -m"[descriptive message]"
Records file snapshots permanently in version history
Name a series of commits and combine completed efforts
$ git branch
Lists all local branches in the current repository
$ git branch [branch-name]
Creates a new branch
$ git checkout [branch-name]
Switches to the specified branch and updates working directory
$ git merge [branch-name]
Combines the specified branch’s history into the current branch
$ git branch -d [branch-name]
Deletes the specified branch
Relocate and remove versioned files
$ git rm [file]
Deletes the file from the working directory and stages the deletion
$ git rm --cached [file]
Removes the file from version control but preserves the file locally
$ git mv [file-original] [file-renamed]
Changes the file name and prepare it for commit
Exclude temporary files and paths
*.log
build/
temp-*
A text file named .gitignore suppresses accidental versioning of files and paths matching the specified patterns
$ git ls-files --other --ignored --exclude-standard
Lists all ignored files in this project
Shelve and restore incomplete changes
$ git stash
Temporarily stores all modified tracked files
$ git stash pop
Restores the most recently stashed files
$ git stash list
Lists all stashed changesets
$ git stash drop
Discards the most recently stashed changeset
Browse and inspect the evolution of project files
$ git log
Lists version history for the current branch
$ git log --follow [file]
Lists version history for the file, including renames
$ git diff [first-branch]...[second-branch]
Shows content differences between two branches
$ git show [commit]
Outputs metadata and content changes of the specified commit
Erase mistakes and craft replacement history
$ git reset [commit]
Undoes all commits after [commit], preserving changes locally
$ git reset --hard [commit]
Discards all history and changes back to the specified commit
Register a remote (URL) and exchange repository history
$ git fetch [remote]
Downloads all history from the remote repository
$ git merge [remote]/[branch]
Combines the remote branch into the current local branch
$ git push [remote] [branch]
Uploads all local branch commits to GitHub
$ git pull
Downloads bookmark history and incorporates changes
Learn more about using GitHub and Git. Email the Training Team or visit our website for learning event schedules and private class availability.
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