Git Cheat Sheet Series (3/5): History Edits + Recovery

Ilias Kyrannas

— 1 min read
Git Cheat Sheet Series (3/5): History Edits + Recovery
Flat illustration of a terminal showing stash, cherry-pick, revert, amend, and reflog commands for editing and recovering Git history.

Short scenarios. Copy/paste commands. Minimal notes.

Stash work (pause changes, switch context)

Goal: Temporarily set aside local changes without committing.

git status
git stash push -m "wip: <short note>"
git status

# bring it back
git stash pop

Notes

  • List stashes: git stash list
  • Apply without dropping: git stash apply

Move one commit to your current branch (cherry-pick)

Goal: Take a specific commit from somewhere else and apply it here.

git checkout feature/<short-name>
git cherry-pick <commit-sha>

Notes

  • Multiple commits: git cherry-pick <sha1> <sha2>
  • If conflicts: fix → git add -A → git cherry-pick --continue
  • Abort: git cherry-pick --abort

Undo a pushed commit safely (revert)

Goal: Create a new commit that reverses a previous one (safe for shared branches).

git checkout dev
git pull --ff-only
git revert <commit-sha>
git push

Notes

  • Prefer revert for commits already pushed to dev or main.

Edit the last commit content (not pushed)

Goal: Add/remove files from the last commit or adjust it before pushing.

# make additional edits
git add -A
git commit --amend --no-edit

Notes

  • Change message too: git commit --amend -m "New message"
  • If already pushed, amending usually requires force-push (covered later).

Recover “lost” work (reflog)

Goal: Find commits/branches you had locally even if you reset or deleted something.

git reflog
# pick the SHA you want, then restore it:
git checkout <commit-sha>

# or move your branch back (destructive):
git reset --hard <commit-sha>

Notes

  • reset --hard discards working tree changes. Use only when you’re sure.

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