Create Git branch with current changes
GitGit BranchGit Problem Overview
I started working on my master branch thinking that my task would be easy. After a while I realized it would take more work and I want to do all this work in a new branch.
How can I create a new branch and take all these changes with me without dirtying master?
Git Solutions
Solution 1 - Git
If you hadn't made any commit yet, only (1: branch) and (3: checkout) would be enough.
Or, in one command: git checkout -b newBranch
With Git 2.23+ (Q3 2019), the new command git switch
would create the branch in one line (with the same kind of reset --hard
, so beware of its effect):
# First, save your work in progress!
git stash
# Then, one command to create *and* switch to a new branch
git switch -f -c topic/wip HEAD~3
As mentioned in the git reset
man page:
$ git stash # (0) Save your work in progress
$ git branch topic/wip # (1)
$ git reset --hard HEAD~3 # (2) NOTE: use $git reset --soft HEAD~3 (explanation below)
$ git checkout topic/wip # (3)
- You have made some commits, but realize they were premature to be in the "
master
" branch. You want to continue polishing them in a topic branch, so create "topic/wip
" branch off of the currentHEAD
. - Rewind the
master
branch to get rid of those three commits. - Switch to "
topic/wip
" branch and keep working.
Again: new way (since 2019 and Git2.23) to do all that in one command:
git switch -f -c topic/wip HEAD~3
Note: due to the "destructive" effect of a git reset --hard
command (it does resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked files in the working tree since <commit>
are discarded), I would rather go with:
$ git reset --soft HEAD~3 # (2)
This would make sure I'm not losing any private file (not added to the index).
The --soft
option won't touch the index file nor the working tree at all (but resets the head to <commit>
, just like all modes do).
Solution 2 - Git
Like stated in this question: Git: Create a branch from unstagged/uncommited changes on master: stash is not necessary.
Just use:
git checkout -b feature/newbranch
Any uncommitted work will be taken along to the new branch.
If you try to push you will get the following message
> fatal: The current branch feature/newbranch has no upstream branch. To > push the current branch and set the remote as upstream, use > > git push --set-upstream origin feature/newbranch
Just do as suggested to create the branch remotely:
git push --set-upstream origin feature/newbranch
Solution 3 - Git
Follow these steps:
-
Create a new branch:
git branch newfeature
-
Checkout new branch: (this will not reset your work.)
git checkout newfeature
-
Now commit your work on this new branch:
git commit -s
Using above steps will keep your original branch clean
and you dont have to do any 'git reset --hard'.
P.S. -s
parameter for commit is for --signoff
Solution 4 - Git
Since you haven't made any commits yet, you can save all your changes to the stash, create and switch to a new branch, then pop those changes back into your working tree:
git stash # save local modifications to new stash
git checkout -b topic/newbranch
git stash pop # apply stash and remove it from the stash list
Solution 5 - Git
To add new changes to a new branch and push to remote:
git branch branch/name
git checkout branch/name
git push origin branch/name
Often times I forget to add the origin part to push and get confused why I don't see the new branch/commit in bitbucket