Git Cheat Sheet: 11 Git Commands Line Instructions

Git is an open-source version control system that facilitates GitHub activities on your computer. Here is the Git Cheat Sheet for quick reference purpose.

GitHub: Git Cheat Sheet

1. Install Git

GitHub provides a graphical user interface to desktop clients for the most common repository actions.

• GitHub for Windows https://windows.github.com
• GitHub for Mac https://mac.github.com

2. Configure Tooling

Configure user information for all local repositories

Sets the name you want to attach to your commit transactions

$ git config --global user.name "[name]"

Sets the email you want to attach to your commit transactions

$ git config --global user.email "[email address]"

Enables helpful colorization of the command line output

$ git config --global color.ui auto

3. Create Repositories

Start a new repository or obtain one from an existing URL

Creates a new local repository with the specified name

$ git init [project-name]

Downloads a project and its entire version history

$ git clone [url]

4. Make Changes

Review edits and craft a commit transaction

Lists all new or modified files to be committed

$ git status

Snapshots the file in preparation for versioning

$ git add [file]

Unstages the file, but preserve its contents

$ git reset [file]

Shows file differences not yet staged

$ git diff

Shows file differences between staging and the last file version

$ git diff --staged

Records file snapshots permanently in the version history

$ git commit -m "[descriptive message]"

5. Group Changes

Name a series of commits and combine completed efforts

Lists all local branches in the current repository

$ git branch

Creates a new branch

$ git branch [branch-name]

Switches to the specified branch and updates the working directory

$ git checkout [branch-name]

Combines the specified branch’s history into the current branch

$ git merge [branch]

Deletes the specified branch

$ git branch -d [branch-name]

6. Refactor FilenamesS

Relocate and remove versioned files

Deletes the file from the working directory and stages the deletion

$ git rm [file]

Removes the file from version control but preserves the file locally

$ git rm --cached [file]

Changes the file name and prepares it for commit

$ git mv [file-original] [file-renamed]

7. Suppress Tracking

Exclude temporary files and paths

A text file named .gitignore suppresses accidental versioning of files and paths matching the specified patterns

*.log build/ temp-*

Lists all ignored files in this project

$ git ls-files --other --ignored --exclude-standard

8. Save Fragments

Shelve and restore incomplete changes

Temporarily stores all modified tracked files

$ git stash

Lists all stashed changesets

$ git stash list

Restores the most recently stashed files

$ git stash pop

Discards the most recently stashed changeset

$ git stash drop

9. Review History

Browse and inspect the evolution of project files

Lists version history for the current branch

$ git log

Lists version history for a file, including renames

$ git log --follow [file]

Shows content differences between two branches

$ git diff [first-branch]...[second-branch]

$ git show [commit]

Outputs metadata and content changes of the specified commit

10. Redo Commits

Erase mistakes and craft replacement history

Undoes all commits after [commit], preserving changes locally

$ git reset [commit]

Discards all history and changes back to the specified commit

$ git reset --hard [commit]

11. Synchronize Changes

Register a repository bookmark and exchange version history

Downloads all history from the repository bookmark

$ git fetch [bookmark]

Combines bookmark’s branch into the current local branch

$ git merge [bookmark]/[branch]

Uploads all local branch commits to GitHub

$ git push [alias] [branch]

Downloads bookmark history and incorporate changes

$ git pull

For more Git commands list, refer to the official Git Cheat Sheet.

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