Git Cheat Sheet and Exercises

This Git cheat sheet collects the commands from the whole tutorial in one place, followed by exercises that walk you through a realistic workflow. Bookmark it for quick reference.

Setup and Basics

git config --global user.name "Name" — set your name
git init — create a repository
git clone <url> — copy a remote repository
git status — see the state of your files
git add <file> / git add . — stage changes
git commit -m "message" — save a snapshot
git diff / git diff --staged — see changes
git log --oneline --graph --all — view history

Branching and Merging

git branch — list branches
git switch -c <name> — create and switch
git switch <name> — change branch
git merge <branch> — merge into current branch
git rebase main — replay your branch onto main
git rebase -i HEAD~3 — edit, squash or reword recent commits
git branch -d <name> — delete a merged branch

Remotes

git remote add origin <url> — link a remote
git push -u origin <branch> — first push of a branch
git fetch — download without merging
git pull / git pull --rebase — download and integrate
git push --force-with-lease — safe force push after rewriting

Undo and Save for Later

git restore <file> — discard unstaged edits
git restore --staged <file> — unstage
git commit --amend — fix the last commit
git revert <commit> — undo a commit with a new commit
git reset --soft HEAD~1 — undo last commit, keep changes
git stash / git stash pop — shelve and restore work
git reflog — find lost commits

Exercise: A Complete Workflow

Run these commands in an empty folder and predict the output of each git log before running it.

git init practice && cd practice
echo "Hello" > app.txt
git add app.txt && git commit -m "Add app"

git switch -c feature/greeting
echo "Hello, world" > app.txt
git commit -am "Expand greeting"

git switch main
echo "Hi" > app.txt
git commit -am "Shorten greeting"

git merge feature/greeting      # conflict! resolve it
git add app.txt && git commit -m "Merge greeting"
git log --oneline --graph

*   e5f6a7b (HEAD -> main) Merge greeting
|\
| * c3d4e5f (feature/greeting) Expand greeting
* | d4e5f6a Shorten greeting
|/
* b2c3d4e Add app

More Exercises

Add a .gitignore that ignores *.log, then create debug.log and confirm git status ignores it.
Make three small commits and squash them into one with interactive rebase.
Create a commit, undo it with git reset --hard, then recover it with git reflog.
Push the practice repo to a new GitHub or GitLab repository and tag it v1.0.0.
Open a pull request from a feature branch and merge it with "Squash and merge".

Frequently asked questions

What are the most used Git commands?

git status, add, commit, push, pull, switch, branch, merge, log and diff cover the vast majority of day-to-day work.

How can I practice Git safely?

Create a throwaway repository in a temporary folder and experiment freely. Interactive sites like Learn Git Branching also visualize commands as you type them.

What should I learn after the Git basics?

Learn your team's pull request workflow, interactive rebase, git bisect for finding bugs, and CI pipelines with GitHub Actions or GitLab CI.