Squash Commits with Interactive Rebase

What is Squashing?

Squashing means combining multiple commits into a single commit.
This is useful for cleaning up your commit history before merging a feature branch—so instead of a long list of tiny or “work in progress” commits, you have one clear, meaningful commit.

Why Squash Commits?

• Cleaner History:
  Makes your project history easier to read and understand.
• Atomic Changes:
  Groups related changes together, making it easier to review and revert if needed.
• Professionalism:
  Shows a tidy, intentional history when collaborating or submitting pull requests.

How to Squash Commits Using Interactive Rebase

Suppose your branch has several commits you want to squash into one.

1. Start an Interactive Rebase

Decide how many commits you want to squash.
For example, to squash the last 3 commits:

git rebase -i HEAD~3

2. The Rebase Editor

Git will open your default text editor with a list like:

pick a1b2c3d First commit
pick b2c3d4e Second commit
pick c3d4e5f Third commit

• The commits are listed from oldest (top) to newest (bottom).

3. Mark Commits to Squash

• Leave pick on the first commit.
• Change pick to squash (or just s) on the commits you want to combine into the first.

Example:

pick a1b2c3d First commit
squash b2c3d4e Second commit
squash c3d4e5f Third commit

• This will squash the second and third commits into the first.

4. Write the Commit Message

• After saving and closing the editor, Git will open another editor window to combine the commit messages.
• Edit the message to describe the combined changes clearly.
• Save and close the editor.

5. Finish the Rebase

• If there are no conflicts, you’re done!
• If there are conflicts, Git will pause and ask you to resolve them. After fixing, run:

  git add <file>
  git rebase --continue
  

Example: Before and After Squash

Before:

* c3d4e5f - Third commit
* b2c3d4e - Second commit
* a1b2c3d - First commit

After squashing:

* z9y8x7w - Combined commit (contains all changes)

Squash While Merging (Alternative)

You can also squash all commits from a feature branch into one when merging to main:

git checkout main
git merge --squash feature-branch
git commit

• This prepares a single combined commit from the feature branch.

When to Squash

• Before merging a feature branch into main or develop.
• When you want to clean up “work in progress” commits.
• When submitting a pull request and the project prefers a tidy history.

Tip:
Squashing is a great way to make your project history clean and professional.
But remember: **never squash commits on a branch that others are working