Git Cheat Sheet

Let’s skip the Git theory lecture.
This cheat sheet is for people who already know Git is a version control system and just want the damn commands. You’ve got code to write, bugs to fix, and a production deploy in 6 minutes.
So here it is: everything you need, nothing you don’t.
Setup
Set your name and email (commit author identity)
git config --global user.name "Ada Lovelace"
Creating Repos
Start a new repo
git init
Clone an existing repo
git clone <repo-url>
Making Changes
Check what’s changed
git status
Stage changes (individual or all)
git add <file> # just one# orgit add . # all changes
Commit with a message
git commit -m "fix: patch infinite loop in login"
Unstage a file
git reset HEAD <file>
History & Diffs
See commit history
git log
See unstaged changes
git diff
See staged changes
git diff --staged
Remotes
Link to a remote repo
git remote add origin <url>
Push/pull to/from remote
git push origin <branch>git pull origin <branch>
Branching
See, create, switch, and delete branches
git branch # list branchesgit branch <name> # create
# switch to a branchgit checkout <name>
# delete a branchgit branch -d <name>
Merging
Merge a branch into current one
git merge <branch>
Stashing
Save, list, apply, and drop stashes
git stash # stash current changesgit stash list # see all stashesgit stash apply # reapply latest stashgit stash drop # delete latest stash
Tagging
Add, delete, and push tags
git tag <tag>git tag -a <tag> -m "msg"git tag -d <tag>git push --tags
Reverting & Resetting
Revert a commit (safe)
git revert HEAD # undo last commit
git revert <commit> # revert specific commit
Reset to a clean state (dangerous)
git reset HEAD # unstage
git reset --hard HEAD # discard all local changes
git reset --hard <commit> # nuke back to old commit
Aliases
Save yourself some keystrokes
git config --global alias.co checkoutgit config --global alias.st statusgit config --global alias.ci commitgit config --global alias.br branch
That’s It
Git can get deep, but you don’t need to memorize plumbing commands to be dangerous.
Pin this cheat sheet, use it daily, and add aliases for whatever slows you down.
Now go commit something before someone force-pushes to main
again.
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Is this content AI-generated?
No. Every article on this blog is written by me personally, drawing on decades of hands-on IT experience and a genuine passion for technology.
I use AI tools exclusively to help polish grammar and ensure my technical guidance is as clear as possible. However, the core ideas, strategic insights, and step-by-step solutions are entirely my own, born from real-world work.
Because of this human-and-AI partnership, some detection tools might flag this content. You can be confident, though, that the expertise is authentic. My goal is to share road-tested knowledge you can trust.