Short answer: Day to day, Git comes down to git status, git add, git commit, git log and git diff. You also need git switch and git merge for branches, git fetch, git pull and git push for remotes. To undo, use git restore for files, git revert for shared commits and git reset for local ones. git reflog finds commits you thought were lost. The tables below group the commands by task.
The examples in this Git cheat sheet were run with Git 2.43.0 in a scratch repository on 9 October 2026, including the merge, rebase, revert, reset, stash and push-to-deploy steps.
Table of Contents
Setup and first commit
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git config --global user.name "Jane Admin" | Name recorded in commits (also set user.email) |
git config --list --show-origin | Every setting and the file it comes from |
git init -b main | New repository with main as the first branch |
git clone https://example.com/repo.git | Copy a remote repository. Use git@host:repo.git for SSH |
git status --short | Compact status: ?? untracked, M modified, M staged |
git add nginx.conf / git add -A | Stage one file / everything, including deletions |
git add -p | Stage hunk by hunk; answer y or n for each change |
git commit -m "Add nginx config" | Commit what is staged |
git commit -am "msg" | Stage tracked files and commit in one step (new files are not included) |
git check-ignore -v .env | Which .gitignore line ignores a file |
A .gitignore for a config repository usually starts with secrets and noise:
*.log
.env
*.key
*.pemViewing changes and history
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git diff | Unstaged changes |
git diff --staged | What the next commit will contain |
git diff --stat HEAD~3 | Files changed in the last three commits, with line counts |
git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all | Compact history of every branch as a graph |
git log --since="2026-10-01" --author="Jane" --format='%h %an %ad %s' --date=short | Filter by date and author with a custom format |
git log -p -S 'ssl_protocols' -- nginx.conf | Commits that added or removed a string (the “pickaxe”) |
git show --stat HEAD | Last commit: message and files |
git show HEAD~2:nginx.conf | A file as it was two commits ago |
git blame -L 10,20 nginx.conf | Who last changed lines 10 to 20, and in which commit |
git shortlog -sn HEAD | Commit count per author |
git grep -n gzip | Search tracked files only |
In a script or cron job, give git shortlog an explicit revision such as HEAD. Without one, and with no terminal attached, it waits to read a log from standard input, and our test run hung until it was stopped.
Branches and merging
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git switch -c feature/tls | Create a branch and move to it (older form: git checkout -b) |
git switch main | Move to an existing branch |
git branch -a | Local and remote-tracking branches |
git branch --show-current | Current branch name, handy in prompts and scripts |
git merge --no-ff feature/tls | Merge and always create a merge commit |
git merge --ff-only feature/tls | Merge only if no merge commit is needed; otherwise stop |
git rebase main | Replay the current branch on top of main for a straight history |
git cherry-pick 8605c9c | Copy one commit onto the current branch |
git branch --merged | Branches already merged into the current one, safe to delete |
git branch -d feature/tls / -D | Delete a merged branch / force-delete an unmerged one |
Only rebase commits that nobody else has pulled. Rebasing rewrites commit IDs, and anyone who based work on the old ones will have to untangle it.
Undoing changes
| Situation | Command |
|---|---|
| Discard edits to a file | git restore nginx.conf |
| Unstage a file but keep the edits | git restore --staged nginx.conf |
| Bring back an older version of a file | git restore --source=HEAD~2 nginx.conf |
| Fix the last commit message or add a forgotten file | git add file then git commit --amend -m "New message" |
| Undo a pushed commit safely | git revert <commit> (adds a new commit that reverses it) |
| Undo a merge commit | git revert -m 1 <merge-commit> (without -m, Git refuses) |
| Remove the last commit, keep its changes staged | git reset --soft HEAD~1 |
| Remove the last commit, keep changes unstaged | git reset HEAD~1 (the default --mixed) |
| Throw away the last commit and all local changes | git reset --hard HEAD~1 |
| Find a lost commit | git reflog, then git switch -c rescue <hash> |
| Delete untracked files | git clean -n to preview, then git clean -f (-d for directories) |
git reset --hard and git clean -f delete uncommitted work for good. The reflog can bring back commits, but never changes that were not committed. Use revert, not reset, on branches that others have pulled.
Stashing work in progress
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git stash push -m "wip readme" | Put tracked changes aside and clean the working tree |
git stash -u | Include untracked files as well |
git stash list | Stashes, newest as stash@{0} |
git stash pop | Re-apply the newest stash and drop it |
git stash apply stash@{1} | Re-apply a stash but keep it in the list |
git stash drop stash@{1} | Delete one stash |
Remotes, fetch, pull and push
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git remote -v | Configured remotes and their URLs |
git remote add origin git@example.com:ops/configs.git | Add a remote |
git push -u origin main | First push; sets upstream so later git push and git pull need no arguments |
git fetch origin | Download new commits without touching your files |
git status -sb | Shows [behind 1] or [ahead 2] against the upstream |
git log --oneline main..origin/main | Commits on the remote that you do not have yet |
git pull --rebase | Fetch, then replay your local commits on top |
git push --force-with-lease | Force-push only if the remote has not moved since your last fetch. Safer than --force |
Tags and releases
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git tag -a v1.0 -m "First release" | Annotated tag (stores author, date and message) |
git tag -l | List tags |
git describe --tags | Nearest tag, plus commits since it, for version strings |
git push origin v1.0 / git push origin --tags | Tags are not pushed by default |
git switch --detach v1.0 | Check out a tag to inspect it |
Deploying configs with Git
For server admins, a bare repository with a post-receive hook is a simple way to deploy configuration or a static site on push. On the server:
git init --bare /srv/git/site.git
cat > /srv/git/site.git/hooks/post-receive <<'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
git --work-tree=/var/www/site --git-dir=/srv/git/site.git checkout -f main
EOF
chmod +x /srv/git/site.git/hooks/post-receiveOn your workstation, git remote add live ssh://deploy@203.0.113.10/srv/git/site.git and then git push live main. We tested this flow with local paths: each push updated the work tree straight away. The hook runs as the SSH user, so that user needs write access to the target directory.
Never commit private keys, .env files or database passwords, even to a private repository. Removing them later does not remove them from history. If one slips in, rotate the secret first, then clean up.
Official documentation (checked 9 October 2026): Git Reference · Pro Git book · git-restore documentation · git-switch documentation · git-stash documentation · gitignore documentation
Git Cheat Sheet at a glance
Related: Git Commands: 42 Everyday Commands with Examples · .gitignore Generator · Diff Checker: Compare Two Texts.
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