This article was last updated on February 03, 2025, to provide a comprehensive guide on Git reset commands, including practical use cases for --soft, --mixed, and --hard resets, recovery strategies for lost commits, and troubleshooting tips, all explained with simplified examples to enhance understanding.
What is Git Reset Branch Command? A Complete Guide
What is Git Branch Reset?
Conceptualize Git branch reset as a sort of time machine for your source, a mechanism through which your work locally can be synced with GitHub, with a feature to discard your work or save it.
What is resetting a Git branch?
- when your inhouse branch is not in harmony with offsite
- To discard experimental changes
- To start anew in a state of innocence
- To fix merge conflicts
Warning: Back up your modifications first, then reset. It's similar to taking a picture when moving your furniture.
I remember my first catastrophic Git reset, having blown a whole lot of work through not having a clue about getting into it.
That's why I'm producing this guide: to allow you to learn from my mistakes and use Git reset both effectively and safely.
Steps we'll cover:
- What is Git Reset Branch Command? A Complete Guide
- Git Branch States: Understanding Local vs Remote
- Interactive Git Reset Tutorial: Try Our Simulator
- Git Reset Types: Soft, Mixed, and Hard Reset Explained
- Git Reset Tutorial: How to Safely Reset Your Branch
- Git Reset Recovery: How to Recover Lost Commits
- Git Reset Best Practices: Tips from a Senior Developer
- Git Reset Troubleshooting: Common Problems and Solutions
- Comparison Table: Git Reset Command Types
Git Branch States: Understanding Local vs Remote
I can use an analogy everyone can understand: a book with a bookmark. Your working directory is your personal bookmark, and your shared bookmark is everyone else in your book group's shared bookmark.
Sometimes, these bookmarks will become out of whack, having moved a page when a fellow student moved the actual marker. That is when you will have to realign your marker with everyone else's.
Interactive Git Reset Tutorial: Try Our Simulator
Care to practice Git reset in real life? Give our simulator a try below and practice resets of all types with no risk of ruining your actual code:
Local Branch
Remote Branch
Cannot fast-forward - branches have diverged ❌
The simulator in question allows:
- Make a commit in your local branch
- Check the state of the remote branch
- Try out several types of resetting operations
- Fantasize about what your commits will become
Practice with it beforehand will make it easier for you to understand its working when working with your real-life repositories.
Git Reset Types: Soft, Mixed, and Hard Reset Explained
Conceptualize Git reset in terms of having a variety of "levels" of "undo" in a text file, and I will use three of my most frequently used types:
Soft Restart (Keep Changes but Move Pointer)
git reset --soft origin/main
Mixed Reset (Default - Don't Remove Files but Unstage)
git reset origin/main
Complete Reboot (Complete Reset)
git reset --hard origin/main
Git Reset Tutorial: How to Safely Reset Your Branch
Here is my guaranteed technique for resetting branches (the painful way I have discovered!).
1. First, confirm what you're about to edit:
2. Branch out for a backup (always!). Create a backup of your current state
git branch backup-before-reset
3. Obtain most updated information:
Get the latest state from remote
git fetch origin
4. Do a re-setting: Reset to match remote
git reset --hard origin/main
Git Reset Recovery: How to Recover Lost Commits
Don't fret! Even when I have a forced reload, your work isn't necessarily lost. What I do when I have a reload:
Check the reflog (your Git time machine)
git reflog
# Reset back to where you were
git reset --hard HEAD@{1}
Git Reset Best Practices: Tips from a Senior Developer
After years of using (and abusing) Git reset, these are my gold rules:
1. Always Create a Backup Branch
Before any reset operation
git branch backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)
2. Retrieval Before Re 10
3. Check Status First
Git Reset Troubleshooting: Common Problems and Solutions
How to Resolve Git Error: "Cannot reset: Local changes would be overwritten"
This happens when having uncommitted changes. I work with it in the following way:
# First, stash your changes
git stash
# Then reset
git reset --hard origin/main
# Later, get your changes back
git stash pop
How to Resolve Git Error: "Updates Were Rejected - Branch is Behind"
This most commonly happens when someone else forced changes when you have been working
# Get the latest changes
git fetch origin
# Reset to match remote
git reset --hard origin/main
Comparison Table: Git Reset Command Types
--soft
- Staging Area: Keeps staged changes intact.
- Working Directory: No changes; edits remain.
- Commit History: Moves the branch pointer to the target commit.
- Purpose: Adjust commit history without altering staged or working directory changes.
- When to Use: Undo the latest commit but keep changes staged for re-committing.
- Example Command:
git reset --soft <commit-hash>
--mixed
- Staging Area: Clears changes from the staging area.
- Working Directory: Keeps all edits unchanged.
- Commit History: Moves the branch pointer to the target commit.
- Purpose: Unstage changes while keeping working directory intact.
- When to Use: Rework or fix changes accidentally staged.
- Example Command:
git reset --mixed <commit-hash>
--hard
- Staging Area: Clears everything.
- Working Directory: Removes all edits.
- Commit History: Moves the branch pointer to the target commit.
- Purpose: Completely discard changes in the working directory and staging area.
- When to Use: Abandon all changes and reset the branch to match a specific commit.
- Example Command:
git reset --hard <commit-hash>
Conclusion
git reset is a sort of a source-code time machine - powerful but with a sensitive touch. Start with soft resets whenever possible, backup whenever, and don't forget: when in doubt, git reflog is your best friend.
Remember: It's better to spend an extra minute creating a backup branch than spending hours trying to recover lost work. Trust me, I learned this the hard way!