Reset and Revert¶

Sometimes we commit changes that we don't intend to commit. If that is the case, we have several options to undo the action.

• Revert
• Reset
  • soft
  • hard
  • mixed

Revert¶

The git revert command will create a new commit, which reverses all the changes made on the specified commit. Let's say that we want to revert the commit where we create the test file.

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"

git revert <docs: create test-commit-id>

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"
  commit id: "Revert docs: create test"

• In the "docs: create test" commit, test file has created. The reverted commit contains all the opposite changes. It will then deletes the test file.

Watch animation

Reset¶

The another way is to use the git reset command. There are three ways to reset the commit to undo it.

• soft
• hard
• mixed

soft¶

With the --soft flag, we still have all the changes that we have made, and these changes will move to staged changes. You can use git status to check all the staged changes.

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"
  commit id: "docs: create hello"

Let's reset the "docs: create hello" commit with a soft flag. Reset commands also receive the number of commits that we want to reset, in this case we want to reset one commit.

git reset --soft <commit-id>
git reset --soft HEAD~1

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"

Watch animation

hard¶

With the --hard flag, we will lose all the changes that we have made on that commit.

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"
  commit id: "docs: create hello"

Let's reset the "docs: create hello" commit with a hard flag.

git reset --hard <commit-id>
git reset --hard HEAD~1

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"

Watch animation

mixed¶

With the --mixed flag, we still have all the changes that we have made, and these changes will move to unstaged changes. You can use git status to check all the unstaged changes.

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"
  commit id: "docs: create hello"

Let's reset the "docs: create hello" commit with a mixed flag.

git reset --mixed <commit-id>
git reset --mixed HEAD~1

---
config:
  logLevel: 'debug'
  theme: 'default'
  themeVariables:
      'git0': '#ff0000'
      'git1': '#ff00ff'
      'git2': '#00ffff'
      'git3': '#ffff00'
      'git4': '#ff00ff'
      'git5': '#00ffff'
---
gitGraph
  commit id: "docs: create first story"
  commit id: "docs: create second story"
  commit id: "docs: create programming"
  commit id: "docs: create test"

Web animation