Understanding HEAD

What is HEAD in Git?

When working with Git, you’ll often hear about something called HEAD.
Think of HEAD as a special pointer that tells Git, “This is where you are right now.”

HEAD: Your Current Position

• HEAD always points to your current branch.
• That branch, in turn, points to a specific commit (a snapshot of your project).

Visualization:

HEAD
 ↓
branch (e.g. main)
 ↓
commit (e.g. a1b2c3d)

• When you make a new commit, the branch moves forward, and so does HEAD.

How HEAD Moves

• If you switch branches, HEAD moves to point to the new branch.
• If you make a commit, HEAD (via the branch) points to the new commit.

Detached HEAD State

Sometimes, HEAD doesn’t point to a branch, but directly to a commit.
This is called a detached HEAD.

When does this happen?

• When you checkout a specific commit, not a branch:

  git checkout <commit-hash>
  

• Now, HEAD points straight to that commit, not to any branch.

Visualization:

HEAD
 ↓
commit (not attached to any branch)

Why is this important?

• If you make new commits in this state, they’re not attached to any branch.
• If you switch branches, those commits can be lost (unless you create a new branch from here).

Recovering from Detached HEAD

If you accidentally end up in a detached HEAD and want to save your work:

1. Create a new branch from here:

   git switch -c my-temporary-branch
   

2. Now your work is safe on a branch!

Summary

• HEAD is your current position in the repo.
• Normally, HEAD points to a branch, which points to a commit.
• Detached HEAD means HEAD points directly to a commit.
• Always create a branch if you want to keep work done in detached HEAD!

Tip:
You can always check where HEAD is pointing by running:

git status