Git Cheat Sheet — Complete Command Reference (Daily Use)

A practical Git reference — the commands you actually run, organized by what you're trying to do. Not every flag, just the ones that matter daily.

Setup & clone

Command	What it does
git config --global user.name "Name"	Set commit author name globally
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"	Set commit email globally
git config --global init.defaultBranch main	Default new repos to main instead of master
git config --global pull.rebase true	Always rebase instead of merge on pull
git clone <url>	Clone a repo
git clone --depth 1 <url>	Shallow clone (faster, only latest commit)
git init	Start a new repo

Daily workflow

Command	What it does
git status	What's staged, what's modified, what's untracked
git status -s	Short format (one line per file)
git add <file>	Stage a file
git add -p	Stage hunks interactively (best for clean commits)
git add .	Stage all changes in current directory
git diff	Show unstaged changes
git diff --staged	Show staged changes
git diff main	Compare current branch to main
git commit -m "message"	Commit staged changes
git commit -am "message"	Stage all tracked files + commit
git commit --amend	Modify last commit (only if not pushed)
git commit --amend --no-edit	Add staged changes to last commit, keep message

Branches

Command	What it does
git branch	List local branches
git branch -a	List local + remote branches
git branch <name>	Create branch (don't switch)
git switch <name>	Switch to branch (modern)
git switch -c <name>	Create + switch (modern)
git checkout -b <name>	Create + switch (legacy)
git branch -d <name>	Delete branch (safe — refuses if unmerged)
git branch -D <name>	Delete branch (force, even if unmerged)
git branch -m <old> <new>	Rename branch
git branch --merged main	List branches already merged into main (safe to delete)

Sync with remote

Command	What it does
git fetch	Download remote changes (don't apply)
git fetch --prune	Fetch + delete remote-tracking refs that no longer exist
git pull	Fetch + merge (or rebase if configured)
git pull --rebase	Fetch + rebase (cleaner history)
git push	Push current branch to remote
git push -u origin <branch>	First push of new branch (sets upstream)
git push --force-with-lease	Force push, but safer than --force
git remote -v	List configured remotes
git remote add origin <url>	Add a remote

Inspect history

Command	What it does
git log	Full commit history
git log --oneline	One line per commit
git log --graph --oneline --all	Visual branch graph (most useful)
git log -p	Show diffs alongside log
git log -- <file>	History of a specific file
git log --author="Alice"	Filter by author
git log --since="2 weeks ago"	Filter by time
git log --grep="bug"	Filter by commit message
git show <commit>	Show one commit's diff + metadata
git blame <file>	Who last changed each line
git reflog	Local history of HEAD movements (recovery!)

Undo & recovery

Command	What it does
git restore <file>	Discard unstaged changes (modern)
git restore --staged <file>	Unstage a file (keep changes)
git checkout -- <file>	Discard unstaged changes (legacy)
git reset HEAD <file>	Unstage (legacy)
git reset --soft HEAD~1	Undo last commit, keep changes staged
git reset --mixed HEAD~1	Undo last commit, keep changes unstaged (default)
git reset --hard HEAD~1	Discard last commit + changes (DESTRUCTIVE)
git revert <commit>	Create a new commit that undoes the given commit (safe for shared branches)
git clean -n	Preview untracked files that would be deleted
git clean -fd	Delete untracked files + directories

Stash

Command	What it does
git stash	Save uncommitted changes, return to clean working tree
git stash -u	Stash including untracked files
git stash list	List stashes
git stash pop	Apply most recent stash + remove from list
git stash apply	Apply most recent stash, keep in list
git stash drop	Delete most recent stash

Rebase & cherry-pick

Command	What it does
git rebase main	Replay current branch's commits on top of main
git rebase -i HEAD~5	Interactive rebase last 5 commits (squash, reorder, edit messages)
git rebase --continue	After resolving conflicts, continue rebase
git rebase --abort	Cancel rebase, return to original state
git cherry-pick <commit>	Apply a single commit from another branch
git cherry-pick <a>..<b>	Apply a range of commits

Tags

Command	What it does
git tag	List tags
git tag v1.0.0	Create a lightweight tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release 1.0"	Create an annotated tag (recommended)
git push origin v1.0.0	Push a single tag
git push --tags	Push all tags
git tag -d v1.0.0	Delete tag locally

Search & debug

Command	What it does
git grep "pattern"	Search tracked files (faster than grep)
git log -S "string"	Find commits that added/removed a string ("pickaxe")
git log -G "regex"	Find commits whose diff matches regex
git bisect start	Start binary-search debugging
git bisect bad / good <commit>	Mark commits during bisect
git bisect reset	End bisect

Common scenarios

Oops, committed to wrong branch:

git reset HEAD~1 --soft
git stash
git checkout correct-branch
git stash pop
git commit

Pull failed because of local changes:

git stash
git pull
git stash pop

Recover a deleted branch:

git reflog                  # find the commit hash
git checkout -b restored <hash>

Squash last 3 commits:

git rebase -i HEAD~3
# In editor: change "pick" to "squash" for commits 2 and 3

Related tools

Comparing two text files line-by-line: diff checker. Verifying a downloaded file's SHA against a published hash: hash generator. Pretty-print API responses while debugging: JSON formatter.

Bookmark this. Print it on a single sheet for the desk. Git is muscle memory built one daily-used command at a time.