Undo without losing work · Lesson 10 of 15

Reset: soft, mixed and hard

See exactly how each mode moves HEAD, staging and files.

12 minutes2 games

reset moves the branch name and HEAD to another commit, then decides what to do with staging and files. soft preserves both, mixed (the default) resets staging, and hard resets staging and files.

--soft: HEAD only

--mixed: + staging

--hard: + working tree

Git

git init -q -b main
echo "one" > app.txt
git add app.txt
git commit -q -m "One"
echo "two" >> app.txt
git commit -q -am "Two"
git reset --soft HEAD~1
git status -s

--soft HEAD~1 is useful for rebuilding the last commit: history moves back while its change remains staged. Mixed leaves it unstaged. Hard makes tracked files match the target, discarding later edits.

Quick question

Which mode moves HEAD only and leaves changes staged?

Exercise

Make two commits, soft-reset one step, and print short status.

Expected output: M app.txt

Git

git init -q -b main
echo "one" > app.txt
git add app.txt
git commit -q -m "One"
echo "two" >> app.txt
git commit -q -am "Two"
git status -s

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