Git Commands That Will Actually Save Your Day
Look, we all know git commit, git push, and git pull. But Git has a treasure trove of commands that can save you hours of frustration—if only you knew they existed. Here are the genuinely useful ones that deserve way more attention.
git reflog — Your Time Machine When Things Go Wrong
Ever executed git reset --hard and immediately regretted it? Or accidentally deleted a branch you needed? This is your safety net.
git reflog
Reflog shows you everything you’ve done—every commit, reset, checkout, merge. Find the SHA of where you want to be, and:
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}
Real-world scenario: You force-pushed to the wrong branch and wiped out work. Reflog lets you recover it. This has saved me more times than I’d like to admit.
git add -p — Stage Like a Pro
Stop staging entire files when you only want some changes. Interactive staging lets you review and stage chunks individually:
git add -p
Git walks you through each change, asking y/n/s (yes/no/split). Press ? for options.
Why this matters: You worked on multiple features in one file. This lets you create clean, atomic commits instead of a messy “fixed stuff” commit.
git bisect — Find Bugs Like a Detective
Your code worked last week. Now it doesn’t. But there are 50 commits in between. Instead of checking each one manually:
git bisect start
git bisect bad # Current commit is broken
git bisect good <commit-sha> # This old commit worked
Git binary-searches through commits. Mark each one as good or bad, and it finds the exact commit that introduced the bug.
Time saved: Instead of checking 50 commits, you check ~6 (log₂ 50).
git stash --include-untracked — Actually Save Everything
Regular git stash only saves tracked files. Add new files? They’re ignored. This version saves everything:
git stash -u
# or
git stash --include-untracked
The situation: You’re mid-feature when production breaks. Stash everything (including those new files), fix prod, then pop your stash and continue.
git commit --fixup — Clean History Without the Hassle
You find a typo in a commit from 5 commits ago. Instead of creating “fix typo” commits:
git commit --fixup <commit-sha>
git rebase -i --autosquash <base-commit>
Git automatically marks it as a fixup and merges it into the original commit during interactive rebase.
Result: Clean history that doesn’t show your mistakes (we all make them, but PRs don’t need to know).
git worktree — Multiple Branches, Zero Context Switching
Need to check another branch but don’t want to stash or commit your current work?
git worktree add ../hotfix-branch hotfix
This creates a separate working directory for that branch. Work on both simultaneously.
Game changer for: Reviewing PRs while keeping your current work untouched, or testing a feature while developing another.
git log --graph --oneline --all — Visualize Your History
Understanding branch topology is hard. This makes it crystal clear:
git log --graph --oneline --all
Add an alias to make it permanent:
git config --global alias.lol "log --graph --oneline --all"
# Now just use: git lol
Pro tip: Add --decorate to see branch and tag names in the visualization.
The Bottom Line
These aren’t party tricks—they’re practical tools that solve real problems. The difference between a Git novice and someone comfortable with Git isn’t knowing more commands; it’s knowing which commands solve which problems.
Bookmark this. Next time you’re stuck, one of these will probably save you.
What’s your underrated Git command? Let me know—I’m always looking for new workflow improvements.