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This article will guide you on how to undo the uncommitted changes we made to our local repository.

When working on a feature, we might start by creating new files, adding changes to existing files, and then deleting some files. Eventually, we realize that this all went wrong and need to go back to an earlier commit. What should we do?

$ echo 'Add new implementation' > feature.txt
$ echo 'Enhance exising feature' >> file.txt
$ git add file.txt
$ rm deprecated_feature.txt
$ git status
On branch main
Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
	modified:   file.txt

Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add/rm <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
	deleted:    deprecated_feature.txt

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	feature.txt

We have several ways to accomplish this.

git checkoutRemove uncommitted changes in Git using

This command will revert uncommitted changes to tracked files. Tracked files are files that git knows about, usually after they have been git addadded

$ git checkout .
Updated 2 paths from the index
$ git status
On branch main
Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	feature.txt

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

Please note that this will not work if the file has already git addbeen added to the staging area via git checkout.

$ echo 'Enhance exising feature' >> file.txt
$ git add file.txt
$ git checkout file.txt
Updated 0 paths from the index
$ git status
On branch main
Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
	modified:   file.txt

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	feature.txt

In the example above, file.txtchanges to will not be reverted because the file is in the staging area.

git resetRemove uncommitted changes in Git using

To remove uncommitted changes in the staging area, we need to take the following steps.

1. Use git resetto unstage a file from the staging area.
2. Use git checkoutto undo changes.

$ git reset file.txt
Unstaged changes after reset:
M	file.txt
$ git checkout file.txt
Updated 1 path from the index
$ git status
On branch main
Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	feature.txt

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

git resetAnother way to remove uncommitted changes using is to use the --hardand arguments HEAD.

$ git reset --hard HEAD
HEAD is now at 1e087f5 Make some change to file.txt
$ git status
On branch main
Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	feature.txt

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

• --hardThe -p option instructs Git to throw out all changes between the current state and the commit in the last argument. For this reason, this command is considered dangerous and should be git statusused after you have run Check Your Working Files.
• The alias of the latest commit HEAD.

Removing uncommitted changes in Git using git stashandgit stash

git checkoutThe disadvantage of and git resetis that they cannot remove untracked files that feature.txtstill exist after executing these commands.

Consider the first example.

$ echo 'Add new implementation' > feature.txt
$ echo 'Enhance exising feature' >> file.txt
$ git add file.txt
$ rm deprecated_feature.txt
$ git status
On branch main
Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
	modified:   file.txt

Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add/rm <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
	deleted:    deprecated_feature.txt

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	feature.txt

Remove all uncommitted changes, including staged files, tracked but not staged, and untracked files. We'll use the clever method git stash.

git stashAllows us to save changes, but does not require it git commit; it acts as temporary storage for uncommitted files.

After adding the changes to the temporary stash, we will tell Git about 删除these stashes. As a result, all uncommitted changes will disappear.

$ git add .
$ git stash
Saved working directory and index state WIP on main: 16b9767 deprecated_feature.txt
$ git stash drop
Dropped refs/stash@{0} (aebeb2cbdcec917331f5793ef1238f5a525d29ec)
$ git status
On branch main
nothing to commit, working tree clean

In summary, we have several ways to remove uncommitted changes:

1. git checkoutOnly useful if the file is not in the staging area.
2. git resetIt is useful for changes in the staging area, but it cannot remove changes to untracked files and needs to git checkoutbe used in conjunction with .
3. git reset --hard HEADProbably shorter than the above, but potentially just as dangerous.
4. git stashWith git add .can delete everything, including untracked files.