reset

Git · Reference cheat sheet

📋 Overview

git reset moves HEAD (and optionally the index / worktree) to a target commit. Soft / mixed / hard modes control how much is discarded. Prefer restore for unstaging/discarding file content without moving HEAD.

🔧 Core concepts

• Path reset — git reset HEAD -- file unstages (mixed on paths).
• vs revert — reset rewrites history; revert adds a new undo commit.
• vs restore — git restore --staged / --worktree for file-level ops.

💡 Examples

# Unstage all / one file
git reset HEAD
git reset HEAD -- src/app.ts

# Undo last commit, keep changes staged
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Undo last commit, keep changes unstaged
git reset HEAD~1

# Destroy local commits + changes (dangerous)
git reset --hard HEAD~1
git reset --hard origin/main

# Move branch tip to a SHA
git reset --hard abcdef1

⚠️ Pitfalls

• --hard deletes uncommitted work — confirm with status / stash first.
• Never reset published commits others use — use revert instead.
• After reset of pushed commits, force-push is required (coordinate with team).
• Detached HEAD + reset can orphan commits — recover via reflog.
• Pathspec reset doesn’t move branch tip — only affects index entries.

🔗 Related

• revert.md
• reflog.md
• amend.md
• stage.md
• status.md
• commit.md