Top 20 Git Commands With Examples

In the previous blog, you got an understanding of what git is. In this blog, I will talk about the Top 20 Git Commands that you will be using frequently while you are working with Git.

Here are the Git commands which are being covered:

• git config
• git init
• git clone
• git add
• git commit
• git diff
• git reset
• git status
• git rm
• git log
• git show
• git tag
• git branch
• git checkout
• git merge
• git remote
• git push
• git pull
• git stash

So, let's get started!

Git Commands

git config

Usage: git config –global user.name “[name]”  

Usage: git config –global user.email “[email address]”  

This command sets the author name and email address respectively to be used with your commits.

git init

Usage: git init [repository name]

This command is used to start a new repository.

git clone

Usage: git clone [url]  

This command is used to obtain a repository from an existing URL.

git add

Usage: git add [file]  

This command adds a file to the staging area.

Usage: git add *  

This command adds one or more to the staging area.

git commit

Usage: git commit -m “[ Type in the commit message]”  

This command records or snapshots the file permanently in the version history.

Usage: git commit -a  

This command commits any files you’ve added with the git add command and also commits any files you’ve changed since then.

git diff

Usage: git diff  

This command shows the file differences which are not yet staged.

 Usage: git diff –staged 

This command shows the differences between the files in the staging area and the latest version present.

Usage: git diff [first branch] [second branch]  

This command shows the differences between the two branches mentioned.

git reset

Usage: git reset [file]  

This command unstages the file, but it preserves the file contents.

Usage: git reset [commit]  

This command undoes all the commits after the specified commit and preserves the changes locally.

Usage: git reset –hard [commit]  This command discards all history and goes back to the specified commit.

git status

Usage: git status  

This command lists all the files that have to be committed.

git rm

Usage: git rm [file]  

This command deletes the file from your working directory and stages the deletion.

git log

Usage: git log  

This command is used to list the version history for the current branch.

Usage: git log –follow[file]  

This command lists version history for a file, including the renaming of files also.

git show

Usage: git show [commit]  

This command shows the metadata and content changes of the specified commit.

git tag

Usage: git tag [commitID]  

This command is used to give tags to the specified commit.

git branch

Usage: git branch  

This command lists all the local branches in the current repository.

Usage: git branch [branch name]  

This command creates a new branch.

Usage: git branch -d [branch name]  

This command deletes the feature branch.

git checkout

Usage: git checkout [branch name]  

This command is used to switch from one branch to another.

Usage: git checkout -b [branch name]  

This command creates a new branch and also switches to it.

git merge

Usage: git merge [branch name]  

This command merges the specified branch’s history into the current branch.

git remote

Usage: git remote add [variable name] [Remote Server Link]  

This command is used to connect your local repository to the remote server.

git push

Usage: git push [variable name] master  

This command sends the committed changes of master branch to your remote repository.

Usage: git push [variable name] [branch]  

This command sends the branch commits to your remote repository.

Usage: git push –all [variable name]  

This command pushes all branches to your remote repository.

Usage: git push [variable name] :[branch name]  

This command deletes a branch on your remote repository.

git pull

Usage: git pull [Repository Link]  

This command fetches and merges changes on the remote server to your working directory.

git stash

Usage: git stash save  

This command temporarily stores all the modified tracked files.

Usage: git stash pop  

This command restores the most recently stashed files.

Usage: git stash list  

This command lists all stashed changesets.

Usage: git stash drop  

This command discards the most recently stashed changeset.

Want to learn more about git commands? Here is a Git Tutorial to get you started. Alternatively, you can take a top-down approach and start with this DevOps Tutorial.