Master Essential Git Commands: stash, reset --soft, cherry-pick, revert & reflog

Preface

Using Git as a version control system is essential for developers, yet many only know basic save, pull, and push and struggle with commit management.

This article shares practical commands that can greatly improve efficiency and solve common scenarios, with hands‑on examples.

stash

Description

Official: use git stash to record the current state of the working directory and index while returning a clean working directory.

Stash saves uncommitted changes so the working directory becomes clean.

Use case

When developing a feature and a critical bug must be fixed on master, you need a clean state to switch branches without committing unfinished work.

Committing a placeholder creates a noisy history; stash avoids that.

Command

Simply run: git stash After fixing the bug, restore the changes: git stash apply Related commands:

# Save uncommitted changes
git stash
# Save with a message
git stash save "message"
# List stash entries
git stash list
# Clear all stash entries
git stash clear
# Apply most recent stash
git stash apply
# Apply and drop
git stash pop
# Drop a specific stash
git stash drop

VSCode integration

VSCode UI for stash operations:

reset --soft

Description

Reset moves the HEAD to a previous commit without touching the index or working tree, leaving changes staged.

It rolls back commits while keeping modifications in the staging area.

Use case

When an accidental commit was made or commits need to be split for clearer history.

Command

# Restore the most recent commit
git reset --soft HEAD^

For already pushed commits, you must force‑push after resetting.

Example of resetting to a specific commit restores its changes to the index.

cherry-pick

Description

Applies the changes introduced by existing commits onto the current branch, creating new commits.

Use case

Copy specific commits to another branch, e.g., when a feature needs to be released early or to clean a polluted branch.

Command

Single commit

Identify the commit hash, switch to target branch, then:

git cherry-pick <commitHash>

Multiple commits

git cherry-pick commit1 commit2

Or a range:

git cherry-pick commit1^..commit2

Conflict handling

If conflicts occur, resolve them, then continue: git cherry-pick --continue To abort: git cherry-pick --abort To quit while keeping successful picks:

git cherry-pick --quit

revert

Description

Creates a new commit that undoes the changes introduced by an existing commit.

Use case

When a released feature causes problems and must be rolled back without affecting other work.

Command

Reverting a regular commit

git revert <commitHash>

Reverting a merge commit

Specify the parent to keep with -m: git revert -m 1 <commitHash> After reverting a merge, subsequent merges of the same changes may be ignored; you can revert the revert to re‑apply.

reflog

Description

Reflog records updates to the tip of branches and HEAD, allowing recovery of lost commits.

Use case

When an accidental hard reset removes recent commits, reflog can locate the lost commit hash.

Command

View history: git reflog Then reset to the desired entry:

git reset --hard <commitHash>

Setting short Git commands

Define aliases to speed up workflow: git config --global alias.ps push Or edit ~/.gitconfig:

[alias]
    co = checkout
    ps = push
    pl = pull
    mer = merge --no-ff
    cp = cherry-pick

Use the alias:

# Equivalent to git cherry-pick <commitHash>
git cp <commitHash>

Summary

This article covered five useful Git commands—stash, reset --soft, cherry-pick, revert, and reflog—and how to set short aliases for faster development.

stash: temporarily store changes.

reset --soft: roll back commits while keeping changes staged.

cherry-pick: copy commits.

revert: undo commit changes.

reflog: track commit history.