6 git-checkout - Switch branches or restore working tree files
11 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [<branch>]
12 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] --detach [<branch>]
13 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [--detach] <commit>
14 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [[-b|-B|--orphan] <new-branch>] [<start-point>]
15 'git checkout' [-f] <tree-ish> [--] <pathspec>...
16 'git checkout' [-f] <tree-ish> --pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]
17 'git checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [--] <pathspec>...
18 'git checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] --pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]
19 'git checkout' (-p|--patch) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<pathspec>...]
23 Updates files in the working tree to match the version in the index
24 or the specified tree. If no pathspec was given, 'git checkout' will
25 also update `HEAD` to set the specified branch as the current
28 'git checkout' [<branch>]::
29 To prepare for working on `<branch>`, switch to it by updating
30 the index and the files in the working tree, and by pointing
31 `HEAD` at the branch. Local modifications to the files in the
32 working tree are kept, so that they can be committed to the
35 If `<branch>` is not found but there does exist a tracking branch in
36 exactly one remote (call it `<remote>`) with a matching name and
37 `--no-guess` is not specified, treat as equivalent to
40 $ git checkout -b <branch> --track <remote>/<branch>
43 You could omit `<branch>`, in which case the command degenerates to
44 "check out the current branch", which is a glorified no-op with
45 rather expensive side-effects to show only the tracking information,
46 if it exists, for the current branch.
48 'git checkout' -b|-B <new-branch> [<start-point>]::
50 Specifying `-b` causes a new branch to be created as if
51 linkgit:git-branch[1] were called and then checked out. In
52 this case you can use the `--track` or `--no-track` options,
53 which will be passed to 'git branch'. As a convenience,
54 `--track` without `-b` implies branch creation; see the
55 description of `--track` below.
57 If `-B` is given, `<new-branch>` is created if it doesn't exist; otherwise, it
58 is reset. This is the transactional equivalent of
61 $ git branch -f <branch> [<start-point>]
62 $ git checkout <branch>
65 that is to say, the branch is not reset/created unless "git checkout" is
68 'git checkout' --detach [<branch>]::
69 'git checkout' [--detach] <commit>::
71 Prepare to work on top of `<commit>`, by detaching `HEAD` at it
72 (see "DETACHED HEAD" section), and updating the index and the
73 files in the working tree. Local modifications to the files
74 in the working tree are kept, so that the resulting working
75 tree will be the state recorded in the commit plus the local
78 When the `<commit>` argument is a branch name, the `--detach` option can
79 be used to detach `HEAD` at the tip of the branch (`git checkout
80 <branch>` would check out that branch without detaching `HEAD`).
82 Omitting `<branch>` detaches `HEAD` at the tip of the current branch.
84 'git checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>...::
85 'git checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [<tree-ish>] --pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]::
87 Overwrite the contents of the files that match the pathspec.
88 When the `<tree-ish>` (most often a commit) is not given,
89 overwrite working tree with the contents in the index.
90 When the `<tree-ish>` is given, overwrite both the index and
91 the working tree with the contents at the `<tree-ish>`.
93 The index may contain unmerged entries because of a previous failed merge.
94 By default, if you try to check out such an entry from the index, the
95 checkout operation will fail and nothing will be checked out.
96 Using `-f` will ignore these unmerged entries. The contents from a
97 specific side of the merge can be checked out of the index by
98 using `--ours` or `--theirs`. With `-m`, changes made to the working tree
99 file can be discarded to re-create the original conflicted merge result.
101 'git checkout' (-p|--patch) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<pathspec>...]::
102 This is similar to the previous mode, but lets you use the
103 interactive interface to show the "diff" output and choose which
104 hunks to use in the result. See below for the description of
111 Quiet, suppress feedback messages.
115 Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
116 by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless `--quiet`
117 is specified. This flag enables progress reporting even if not
118 attached to a terminal, regardless of `--quiet`.
122 When switching branches, proceed even if the index or the
123 working tree differs from `HEAD`, and even if there are untracked
124 files in the way. This is used to throw away local changes and
125 any untracked files or directories that are in the way.
127 When checking out paths from the index, do not fail upon unmerged
128 entries; instead, unmerged entries are ignored.
132 When checking out paths from the index, check out stage #2
133 ('ours') or #3 ('theirs') for unmerged paths.
135 Note that during `git rebase` and `git pull --rebase`, 'ours' and
136 'theirs' may appear swapped; `--ours` gives the version from the
137 branch the changes are rebased onto, while `--theirs` gives the
138 version from the branch that holds your work that is being rebased.
140 This is because `rebase` is used in a workflow that treats the
141 history at the remote as the shared canonical one, and treats the
142 work done on the branch you are rebasing as the third-party work to
143 be integrated, and you are temporarily assuming the role of the
144 keeper of the canonical history during the rebase. As the keeper of
145 the canonical history, you need to view the history from the remote
146 as `ours` (i.e. "our shared canonical history"), while what you did
147 on your side branch as `theirs` (i.e. "one contributor's work on top
151 Create a new branch named `<new-branch>`, start it at
152 `<start-point>`, and check the resulting branch out;
153 see linkgit:git-branch[1] for details.
156 Creates the branch `<new-branch>`, start it at `<start-point>`;
157 if it already exists, then reset it to `<start-point>`. And then
158 check the resulting branch out. This is equivalent to running
159 "git branch" with "-f" followed by "git checkout" of that branch;
160 see linkgit:git-branch[1] for details.
163 --track[=(direct|inherit)]::
164 When creating a new branch, set up "upstream" configuration. See
165 "--track" in linkgit:git-branch[1] for details.
167 If no `-b` option is given, the name of the new branch will be
168 derived from the remote-tracking branch, by looking at the local part of
169 the refspec configured for the corresponding remote, and then stripping
170 the initial part up to the "*".
171 This would tell us to use `hack` as the local branch when branching
172 off of `origin/hack` (or `remotes/origin/hack`, or even
173 `refs/remotes/origin/hack`). If the given name has no slash, or the above
174 guessing results in an empty name, the guessing is aborted. You can
175 explicitly give a name with `-b` in such a case.
178 Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the
179 `branch.autoSetupMerge` configuration variable is true.
183 If `<branch>` is not found but there does exist a tracking
184 branch in exactly one remote (call it `<remote>`) with a
185 matching name, treat as equivalent to
188 $ git checkout -b <branch> --track <remote>/<branch>
191 If the branch exists in multiple remotes and one of them is named by
192 the `checkout.defaultRemote` configuration variable, we'll use that
193 one for the purposes of disambiguation, even if the `<branch>` isn't
194 unique across all remotes. Set it to
195 e.g. `checkout.defaultRemote=origin` to always checkout remote
196 branches from there if `<branch>` is ambiguous but exists on the
197 'origin' remote. See also `checkout.defaultRemote` in
198 linkgit:git-config[1].
200 `--guess` is the default behavior. Use `--no-guess` to disable it.
202 The default behavior can be set via the `checkout.guess` configuration
206 Create the new branch's reflog; see linkgit:git-branch[1] for
211 Rather than checking out a branch to work on it, check out a
212 commit for inspection and discardable experiments.
213 This is the default behavior of `git checkout <commit>` when
214 `<commit>` is not a branch name. See the "DETACHED HEAD" section
217 --orphan <new-branch>::
218 Create a new 'orphan' branch, named `<new-branch>`, started from
219 `<start-point>` and switch to it. The first commit made on this
220 new branch will have no parents and it will be the root of a new
221 history totally disconnected from all the other branches and
224 The index and the working tree are adjusted as if you had previously run
225 `git checkout <start-point>`. This allows you to start a new history
226 that records a set of paths similar to `<start-point>` by easily running
227 `git commit -a` to make the root commit.
229 This can be useful when you want to publish the tree from a commit
230 without exposing its full history. You might want to do this to publish
231 an open source branch of a project whose current tree is "clean", but
232 whose full history contains proprietary or otherwise encumbered bits of
235 If you want to start a disconnected history that records a set of paths
236 that is totally different from the one of `<start-point>`, then you should
237 clear the index and the working tree right after creating the orphan
238 branch by running `git rm -rf .` from the top level of the working tree.
239 Afterwards you will be ready to prepare your new files, repopulating the
240 working tree, by copying them from elsewhere, extracting a tarball, etc.
242 --ignore-skip-worktree-bits::
243 In sparse checkout mode, `git checkout -- <paths>` would
244 update only entries matched by `<paths>` and sparse patterns
245 in `$GIT_DIR/info/sparse-checkout`. This option ignores
246 the sparse patterns and adds back any files in `<paths>`.
250 When switching branches,
251 if you have local modifications to one or more files that
252 are different between the current branch and the branch to
253 which you are switching, the command refuses to switch
254 branches in order to preserve your modifications in context.
255 However, with this option, a three-way merge between the current
256 branch, your working tree contents, and the new branch
257 is done, and you will be on the new branch.
259 When a merge conflict happens, the index entries for conflicting
260 paths are left unmerged, and you need to resolve the conflicts
261 and mark the resolved paths with `git add` (or `git rm` if the merge
262 should result in deletion of the path).
264 When checking out paths from the index, this option lets you recreate
265 the conflicted merge in the specified paths. This option cannot be
266 used when checking out paths from a tree-ish.
268 When switching branches with `--merge`, staged changes may be lost.
271 The same as `--merge` option above, but changes the way the
272 conflicting hunks are presented, overriding the
273 `merge.conflictStyle` configuration variable. Possible values are
274 "merge" (default), "diff3", and "zdiff3".
278 Interactively select hunks in the difference between the
279 `<tree-ish>` (or the index, if unspecified) and the working
280 tree. The chosen hunks are then applied in reverse to the
281 working tree (and if a `<tree-ish>` was specified, the index).
283 This means that you can use `git checkout -p` to selectively discard
284 edits from your current working tree. See the ``Interactive Mode''
285 section of linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate the `--patch` mode.
287 Note that this option uses the no overlay mode by default (see also
288 `--overlay`), and currently doesn't support overlay mode.
290 --ignore-other-worktrees::
291 `git checkout` refuses when the wanted ref is already checked
292 out by another worktree. This option makes it check the ref
293 out anyway. In other words, the ref can be held by more than one
297 --no-overwrite-ignore::
298 Silently overwrite ignored files when switching branches. This
299 is the default behavior. Use `--no-overwrite-ignore` to abort
300 the operation when the new branch contains ignored files.
302 --recurse-submodules::
303 --no-recurse-submodules::
304 Using `--recurse-submodules` will update the content of all active
305 submodules according to the commit recorded in the superproject. If
306 local modifications in a submodule would be overwritten the checkout
307 will fail unless `-f` is used. If nothing (or `--no-recurse-submodules`)
308 is used, submodules working trees will not be updated.
309 Just like linkgit:git-submodule[1], this will detach `HEAD` of the
314 In the default overlay mode, `git checkout` never
315 removes files from the index or the working tree. When
316 specifying `--no-overlay`, files that appear in the index and
317 working tree, but not in `<tree-ish>` are removed, to make them
318 match `<tree-ish>` exactly.
320 --pathspec-from-file=<file>::
321 Pathspec is passed in `<file>` instead of commandline args. If
322 `<file>` is exactly `-` then standard input is used. Pathspec
323 elements are separated by LF or CR/LF. Pathspec elements can be
324 quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
325 (see linkgit:git-config[1]). See also `--pathspec-file-nul` and
326 global `--literal-pathspecs`.
328 --pathspec-file-nul::
329 Only meaningful with `--pathspec-from-file`. Pathspec elements are
330 separated with NUL character and all other characters are taken
331 literally (including newlines and quotes).
334 Branch to checkout; if it refers to a branch (i.e., a name that,
335 when prepended with "refs/heads/", is a valid ref), then that
336 branch is checked out. Otherwise, if it refers to a valid
337 commit, your `HEAD` becomes "detached" and you are no longer on
338 any branch (see below for details).
340 You can use the `@{-N}` syntax to refer to the N-th last
341 branch/commit checked out using "git checkout" operation. You may
342 also specify `-` which is synonymous to `@{-1}`.
344 As a special case, you may use `A...B` as a shortcut for the
345 merge base of `A` and `B` if there is exactly one merge base. You can
346 leave out at most one of `A` and `B`, in which case it defaults to `HEAD`.
349 Name for the new branch.
352 The name of a commit at which to start the new branch; see
353 linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. Defaults to `HEAD`.
355 As a special case, you may use `"A...B"` as a shortcut for the
356 merge base of `A` and `B` if there is exactly one merge base. You can
357 leave out at most one of `A` and `B`, in which case it defaults to `HEAD`.
360 Tree to checkout from (when paths are given). If not specified,
361 the index will be used.
363 As a special case, you may use `"A...B"` as a shortcut for the
364 merge base of `A` and `B` if there is exactly one merge base. You can
365 leave out at most one of `A` and `B`, in which case it defaults to `HEAD`.
368 Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
371 Limits the paths affected by the operation.
373 For more details, see the 'pathspec' entry in linkgit:gitglossary[7].
377 `HEAD` normally refers to a named branch (e.g. `master`). Meanwhile, each
378 branch refers to a specific commit. Let's look at a repo with three
379 commits, one of them tagged, and with branch `master` checked out:
382 HEAD (refers to branch 'master')
385 a---b---c branch 'master' (refers to commit 'c')
388 tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b')
391 When a commit is created in this state, the branch is updated to refer to
392 the new commit. Specifically, 'git commit' creates a new commit `d`, whose
393 parent is commit `c`, and then updates branch `master` to refer to new
394 commit `d`. `HEAD` still refers to branch `master` and so indirectly now refers
398 $ edit; git add; git commit
400 HEAD (refers to branch 'master')
403 a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd')
406 tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b')
409 It is sometimes useful to be able to checkout a commit that is not at
410 the tip of any named branch, or even to create a new commit that is not
411 referenced by a named branch. Let's look at what happens when we
412 checkout commit `b` (here we show two ways this may be done):
415 $ git checkout v2.0 # or
416 $ git checkout master^^
418 HEAD (refers to commit 'b')
421 a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd')
424 tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b')
427 Notice that regardless of which checkout command we use, `HEAD` now refers
428 directly to commit `b`. This is known as being in detached `HEAD` state.
429 It means simply that `HEAD` refers to a specific commit, as opposed to
430 referring to a named branch. Let's see what happens when we create a commit:
433 $ edit; git add; git commit
435 HEAD (refers to commit 'e')
440 a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd')
443 tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b')
446 There is now a new commit `e`, but it is referenced only by `HEAD`. We can
447 of course add yet another commit in this state:
450 $ edit; git add; git commit
452 HEAD (refers to commit 'f')
457 a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd')
460 tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b')
463 In fact, we can perform all the normal Git operations. But, let's look
464 at what happens when we then checkout `master`:
467 $ git checkout master
469 HEAD (refers to branch 'master')
472 a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd')
475 tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b')
478 It is important to realize that at this point nothing refers to commit
479 `f`. Eventually commit `f` (and by extension commit `e`) will be deleted
480 by the routine Git garbage collection process, unless we create a reference
481 before that happens. If we have not yet moved away from commit `f`,
482 any of these will create a reference to it:
485 $ git checkout -b foo # or "git switch -c foo" <1>
489 <1> creates a new branch `foo`, which refers to commit `f`, and then
490 updates `HEAD` to refer to branch `foo`. In other words, we'll no longer
491 be in detached `HEAD` state after this command.
492 <2> similarly creates a new branch `foo`, which refers to commit `f`,
493 but leaves `HEAD` detached.
494 <3> creates a new tag `foo`, which refers to commit `f`,
495 leaving `HEAD` detached.
497 If we have moved away from commit `f`, then we must first recover its object
498 name (typically by using git reflog), and then we can create a reference to
499 it. For example, to see the last two commits to which `HEAD` referred, we
500 can use either of these commands:
503 $ git reflog -2 HEAD # or
507 ARGUMENT DISAMBIGUATION
508 -----------------------
510 When there is only one argument given and it is not `--` (e.g. `git
511 checkout abc`), and when the argument is both a valid `<tree-ish>`
512 (e.g. a branch `abc` exists) and a valid `<pathspec>` (e.g. a file
513 or a directory whose name is "abc" exists), Git would usually ask
514 you to disambiguate. Because checking out a branch is so common an
515 operation, however, `git checkout abc` takes "abc" as a `<tree-ish>`
516 in such a situation. Use `git checkout -- <pathspec>` if you want
517 to checkout these paths out of the index.
524 The following sequence checks out the `master` branch, reverts
525 the `Makefile` to two revisions back, deletes `hello.c` by
526 mistake, and gets it back from the index.
529 $ git checkout master <1>
530 $ git checkout master~2 Makefile <2>
532 $ git checkout hello.c <3>
535 <2> take a file out of another commit
536 <3> restore `hello.c` from the index
538 If you want to check out _all_ C source files out of the index,
542 $ git checkout -- '*.c'
545 Note the quotes around `*.c`. The file `hello.c` will also be
546 checked out, even though it is no longer in the working tree,
547 because the file globbing is used to match entries in the index
548 (not in the working tree by the shell).
550 If you have an unfortunate branch that is named `hello.c`, this
551 step would be confused as an instruction to switch to that branch.
552 You should instead write:
555 $ git checkout -- hello.c
560 After working in the wrong branch, switching to the correct
561 branch would be done using:
564 $ git checkout mytopic
567 However, your "wrong" branch and correct `mytopic` branch may
568 differ in files that you have modified locally, in which case
569 the above checkout would fail like this:
572 $ git checkout mytopic
573 error: You have local changes to 'frotz'; not switching branches.
576 You can give the `-m` flag to the command, which would try a
580 $ git checkout -m mytopic
584 After this three-way merge, the local modifications are _not_
585 registered in your index file, so `git diff` would show you what
586 changes you made since the tip of the new branch.
588 === 3. Merge conflict
590 When a merge conflict happens during switching branches with
591 the `-m` option, you would see something like this:
594 $ git checkout -m mytopic
596 ERROR: Merge conflict in frotz
597 fatal: merge program failed
600 At this point, `git diff` shows the changes cleanly merged as in
601 the previous example, as well as the changes in the conflicted
602 files. Edit and resolve the conflict and mark it resolved with
613 include::includes/cmd-config-section-all.txt[]
615 include::config/checkout.txt[]
619 linkgit:git-switch[1],
620 linkgit:git-restore[1]
624 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite