Revert a local change in Git
When we have created a commit locally but have not published it to the remote yet, we can use git reset to undo the commit and, if we wish, discard the changes.
Although there are several options for git reset the most used are:
--soft: Does not touch the index file or the working tree at all (but resets the head to, just like all modes do). This leaves all your changed files “Changes to be committed”, as git status would put it. --hard: Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked files in the working tree sinceare discarded. Any untracked files or directories in the way of writing any tracked files are simply deleted. Git reset documentation {: style=“text-align: right;”}
Here there is an example about using git reset. We start by changing a file and creating a commit with the change.
bash-3.2$ cat README.md
# Index
1
bash-3.2$
bash-3.2$ cat README.md
# Index
1
2
bash-3.2$
bash-3.2$ git add README.md
bash-3.2$
bash-3.2$ git commit -m "Add number 2 in README.md"
[main 3734fd5] Add number 2 in README.md
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
git status shows there is one commit pending to be published.
bash-3.2$ git status
On branch main
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/main' by 1 commit.
(use "git push" to publish your local commits)
nothing to commit, working tree clean
Using git reflog to see the history.
3734fd5 (HEAD -> main) HEAD@{0}: commit: Add number 2 in README.md
866bfa8 (origin/main) HEAD@{1}: revert: Revert "Merge branch 'feature-1'"
e2f6d08 HEAD@{2}: merge feature-1: Merge made by the 'ort' strategy.
23644da HEAD@{3}: checkout: moving from feature-1 to main
Now we can use git reset --soft <COMMIT_ID> to undo the commit but keep the changes.
bash-3.2$ git reset --soft 866bfa8
bash-3.2$
bash-3.2$ git status
On branch main
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.
Changes to be committed:
(use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
modified: README.md
git log after using git reset
commit 866bfa8a952d11240707ebfc87f3266034d42443 (HEAD -> main, origin/main)
Author: Julian Nonino <learn.software.eng+jnonino@gmail.com>
Date: Wed Jan 18 20:06:40 2023 -0300
Revert "Merge branch 'feature-1'"
This reverts commit e2f6d08d3b38a02a1c026cfb879f3131536757ac, reversing
changes made to 23644dab9fc5828ecdd358c6d3acb4196ed23546.
We create a new commit so we can test the git reset --hard command.
bash-3.2$ git status
On branch main
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.
Changes to be committed:
(use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
modified: README.md
bash-3.2$ git commit -m "Add number 2 in README.md - NEW COMMIT"
[main 2e7193d] Add number 2 in README.md - NEW COMMIT
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
git log now shows the new commit.
commit 2e7193db650b9ba0762fe73525df599a08f8577d (HEAD -> main)
Author: Julian Nonino <learn.software.eng+jnonino@gmail.com>
Date: Thu Jan 19 08:32:57 2023 -0300
Add number 2 in README.md - NEW COMMIT
commit 866bfa8a952d11240707ebfc87f3266034d42443 (origin/main)
Author: Julian Nonino <learn.software.eng+jnonino@gmail.com>
Date: Wed Jan 18 20:06:40 2023 -0300
Revert "Merge branch 'feature-1'"
This reverts commit e2f6d08d3b38a02a1c026cfb879f3131536757ac, reversing
changes made to 23644dab9fc5828ecdd358c6d3acb4196ed23546.
Now we can use git reset --hard <COMMIT_ID> to undo the commit and discard all the changes.
bash-3.2$ git reset --hard 866bfa8
HEAD is now at 866bfa8 Revert "Merge branch 'feature-1'"
bash-3.2$
bash-3.2$ git status
On branch main
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.
nothing to commit, working tree clean
git log remains as it nothing had happened.
commit 866bfa8a952d11240707ebfc87f3266034d42443 (HEAD -> main, origin/main)
Author: Julian Nonino <learn.software.eng+jnonino@gmail.com>
Date: Wed Jan 18 20:06:40 2023 -0300
Revert "Merge branch 'feature-1'"
This reverts commit e2f6d08d3b38a02a1c026cfb879f3131536757ac, reversing
changes made to 23644dab9fc5828ecdd358c6d3acb4196ed23546.