GIT CMD Cheatsheet

Just a short list of GIT commands but sorted by usage/need instead. Hopefully it’s useful to you as much as it was to me.

Everyday commands

git status - see what’s changed

git add . - stage all changes

git add <file> - stage one file

git commit -m "message" - create a commit

git push - upload commits to Git

git pull - download + merge changes from Git

Usual workflow

git pull

git status

git add .

git commit -m "message what changed"

git push

New Project (Computer) to GitHub

cd "path/to/project"

git init

git add .

git commit -m "Initial commit"

git branch -M main

git remote add origin https://github.com/USER/REPO.git

git push -u origin main

GitHub to Computer

Clone a repo:

git clone https://github.com/USER/REPO.git

Enter it:

cd REPO

Update existing repo:

git pull

Operations on branches

See branches:

git branch

Create + switch:

git switch -c feature-name

Switch:

git switch main

Delete local branch:

git branch -d feature-name

Push new branch:

git push -u origin feature-name

Delete GitHub branch:

git push origin --delete feature-name

Merge

Switch to the branch receiving the changes:

git switch main

Update it:

git pull

Merge:

git merge feature-name

Push:

git push

Cancel a merge

git merge --abort

Merge Conflict

When Git says CONFLICT:

git status

• Open the conflicted file

• Choose/fix the correct content

• Remove <<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>

Then:

git add .

git commit -m "Resolve merge conflict"

git push

Want to cancel everything?

git merge --abort

See What Changed

Current state:

git status

Unstaged changes:

git diff

Staged changes:

git diff --staged

Commit history:

git log --oneline

Pretty history:

git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all

Show a commit:

git show <commit>

Undo / Fix Mistakes

Unstage a file

git restore --staged <file>

Discard changes to a file

git restore <file>

⚠️ Deletes your uncommitted changes

Discard ALL uncommitted changes

git restore .

⚠️ Dangerous

Undo last commit, keep changes

git reset --soft HEAD~1

Undo last commit, keep files but unstage them

git reset HEAD~1

Completely undo last commit + changes

git reset --hard HEAD~1

⚠️ Dangerous

Safely reverse an existing commit

git revert <commit>

Stash

Temporarily hide unfinished changes:

git stash

See stashes:

git stash list

Bring changes back:

git stash pop

Apply without deleting stash:

git stash apply

Delete stash:

git stash drop

Useful when working on A -> need to switch to B -> don’t want to commit A

GitHub / Remote

See GitHub connection:

git remote -v

Add GitHub:

git remote add origin <URL>

Change GitHub URL:

git remote set-url origin <URL>

Download remote information:

git fetch

Download + integrate:

git pull

Upload:

git push

Remove Files

Remove file through Git:

git rm <file>

Remove directory:

git rm -r <directory>

See untracked files that would be deleted:

git clean -n

Delete untracked files:

git clean -f

⚠️ git clean can permanently delete files

.gitignore

Common .gitignore entries:

.env

node_modules/

*.log

dist/

build/

.vscode/

.DS_Store

After creating .gitignore:

git add .

git commit -m "Add gitignore"

Useful Checks

Git version:

git --version

Git user:

git config --global user.name

Git email:

git config --global user.email

Current branch:

git branch --show-current

Remote:

git remote -v

Common Errors

Error message: “src refspec main does not match any”

Usually you’re on master:

git branch

git branch -M main

git push -u origin main

---

Error message: “Your branch is ahead of origin/main”

You have commits that aren’t on GitHub:

git push

---

Error message: “Your branch is behind origin/main”

GitHub has commits you don’t have:

git pull

---

Error message: “nothing to commit, working tree clean”

Everything is already committed. Nothing to do.

---

Error message: “fatal: not a git repository”

You’re in the wrong folder:

cd path/to/project

Check:

git status

---

CONFLICT

Fix the files:

git status

git add .

git commit

git push

Or cancel:

git merge --abort

General Git Flow

EDIT FILES >> git status >> git add . STAGING >> git commit -m "message" >> LOCAL REPOSITORY >> git push >> GITHUB

To get changes:

GITHUB >> git pull >> LOCAL REPOSITORY

TLDR

I want to…	Command
See what’s happening	git status
Get GitHub changes	git pull
Stage everything	git add .
Save a version	git commit -m "message"
Upload to GitHub	git push
Create a branch	git switch -c <name>
Switch branch	git switch <name>
Merge branch	git merge <name>
See history	git log --oneline
Undo staging	git restore --staged <file>
Discard file changes	git restore <file>
Temporarily save work	git stash
Restore stash	git stash pop
Cancel merge	git merge --abort
See GitHub connection	git remote -v

Almost all the time just do

git pull

git status

git add .

git commit -m "what I changed"

git push

If you’re unsure what’s happening: git status