git stash
- Git course
- Intermediate
- Lesson 17/82
- 4 min
Learn to temporarily save changes with git stash.
Clearing working tree with git stash
When you have unfinished work and need to switch branches or fix an urgent bug, you don't want to commit incomplete code. The git stash command shelves both working tree and staged changes into a temporary storage stack. Your working directory then returns to the clean state of the latest commit (HEAD).
git status
git stashYou can later restore these shelved changes and continue developing right where you left off.
Stash with message and untracked files
By default, git stash only saves changes made to tracked files. If you also want to stash newly created untracked files, add the -u flag. You can provide a custom description using push -m to remember what each stash entry contains.
git stash -u
git stash push -m "login form development"Leaving descriptive messages makes life much easier, especially when multiple stash entries accumulate.
Practice Clean working tree with stash
Shelve unfinished changes in app.py using git stash -q, and then print that the file returned to its original state using cat app.py.
Starter code
git init -q
git config user.name "Canan"
git config user.email "canan@example.com"
echo "surum 1" > app.py
git add app.py
git commit -qm "Ilk commit"
echo "surum 2 calismasi" >> app.py
# Degisiklikleri stash'e al ve dosya icerigini yazdirSample solution
git init -q
git config user.name "Canan"
git config user.email "canan@example.com"
echo "surum 1" > app.py
git add app.py
git commit -qm "Ilk commit"
echo "surum 2 calismasi" >> app.py
git stash -q
cat app.pyExpected output
surum 1
Questions and answers
Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.
1 What happens to unsaved changes in the working tree when git stash is run?
- They are automatically added to the repo as a permanent commit
- They are shelved to a temporary stack and working tree returns to HEAD Correct answer
- Only newly created files are removed from the working tree
- They are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered
Explanation: git stash shelves changes not yet ready to commit into a temporary stack and cleans the working tree.
2 Include untracked files in stash
git stash ____git stash -uExplanation: The -u (or --include-untracked) option includes new untracked files in the stash stack.
3 Stash fundamentals
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
git stash |
Shelves changes to temporary stack |
-u |
Also stashes untracked files |
git stash push -m |
Adds description message to stash |
Temiz çalışma alanı |
Returns to HEAD once changes stashed |