Git - Branch Management

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translation available in <table> <tr><td><a href="/book/az/v2/Git%e2%80%99d%c9%99-Branch-Branch-%c4%b0dar%c9%99edilm%c9%99si">azərbaycan dili</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/bg/v2/%d0%9a%d0%bb%d0%be%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5-%d0%b2-Git-%d0%a3%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b2%d0%bb%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%ba%d0%bb%d0%be%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5">български език</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/de/v2/Git-Branching-Branch-Management">Deutsch</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/es/v2/Ramificaciones-en-Git-Gesti%c3%b3n-de-Ramas">Español</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/fr/v2/Les-branches-avec-Git-Gestion-des-branches">Français</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/gr">Ελληνικά</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/ja/v2/Git-%e3%81%ae%e3%83%96%e3%83%a9%e3%83%b3%e3%83%81%e6%a9%9f%e8%83%bd-%e3%83%96%e3%83%a9%e3%83%b3%e3%83%81%e3%81%ae%e7%ae%a1%e7%90%86">日本語</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/ko/v2/Git-%eb%b8%8c%eb%9e%9c%ec%b9%98-%eb%b8%8c%eb%9e%9c%ec%b9%98-%ea%b4%80%eb%a6%ac">한국어</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/nl/v2/Branchen-in-Git-Branch-beheer">Nederlands</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/ru/v2/%d0%92%d0%b5%d1%82%d0%b2%d0%bb%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%b2-Git-%d0%a3%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b2%d0%bb%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%b2%d0%b5%d1%82%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%bc%d0%b8">Русский</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/sl/v2/Veje-Git-Upravljanje-vej">Slovenščina</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/tl/v2/Pag-branch-ng-Git-Pamamahala-ng-Branch">Tagalog</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/uk/v2/%d0%93%d0%b0%d0%bb%d1%83%d0%b6%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%bd%d1%8f-%d0%b2-git-%d0%a3%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b2%d0%bb%d1%96%d0%bd%d0%bd%d1%8f-%d0%b3%d1%96%d0%bb%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%bc%d0%b8">Українська</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/zh/v2/Git-%e5%88%86%e6%94%af-%e5%88%86%e6%94%af%e7%ae%a1%e7%90%86">简体中文</a>,</td></tr> </table> </p> <p> Partial translations available in <table> <tr><td><a href="/book/cs/v2/V%c4%9btve-v-syst%c3%a9mu-Git-Spr%c3%a1va-v%c4%9btv%c3%ad">Čeština</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/mk/v2/%d0%93%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b5%d1%9a%d0%b5-%d0%b2%d0%be-Git-Branch-Management">Македонски</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/pl/v2/Ga%c5%82%c4%99zie-Gita-Zarz%c4%85dzanie-ga%c5%82%c4%99ziami">Polski</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/sr/v2/%d0%93%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%9a%d0%b5-%d1%83-%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b3%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bc%d1%83-%d0%93%d0%b8%d1%82-%d0%a3%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b2%d1%99%d0%b0%d1%9a%d0%b5-%d0%b3%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%bc%d0%b0">Српски</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/uz/v2/Git-%d0%b4%d0%b0-%d1%82%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%bc%d0%be%d2%9b%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b8%d1%88-%d0%a2%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%bc%d0%be%d2%9b%d0%bb%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%bd%d0%b8-%d0%b1%d0%be%d1%88%d2%9b%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%88">Ўзбекча</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/zh-tw/v2/%e4%bd%bf%e7%94%a8-Git-%e5%88%86%e6%94%af-%e5%88%86%e6%94%af%e7%ae%a1%e7%90%86">繁體中文</a>,</td></tr> </table> </p> <p> Translations started for <table> <tr><td><a href="/book/be/v2/Git-Branching-Branch-Management">Беларуская</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/fa/v2/%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%ae%d9%87%e2%80%8c%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%b2%db%8c-%d8%af%d8%b1-%da%af%db%8c%d8%aa-%d9%85%d8%af%db%8c%d8%b1%db%8c%d8%aa-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%ae%d9%87" dir="rtl">فارسی</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/id/v2/Git-Branching-Branch-Management">Indonesian</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/it/v2/Git-Branching-Branch-Management">Italiano</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Branch-Management">Bahasa Melayu</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/pt-br/v2/Branches-no-Git-Gest%c3%a3o-de-Branches">Português (Brasil)</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/pt-pt/v2/Ramifica%c3%a7%c3%a3o-do-Git-Branch-Management">Português (Portugal)</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/sv/v2/Git-f%c3%b6rgreningar-Hantera-grenar">Svenska</a>,</td></tr> <tr><td><a href="/book/tr/v2/Git-Dallar%c4%b1-Dal-Y%c3%b6netimi">Türkçe</a>.</td></tr> </table> </p> <hr class="sidebar"/> <p> The source of this book is <a href="https://github.com/progit2-ms/progit2">hosted on GitHub.</a></br> Patches, suggestions and comments are welcome. </p> </nav> </aside> <div id="content"> <div id="book-chapters"> <a class="dropdown-trigger" id="book-chapters-trigger" data-panel-id="chapters-dropdown" href="#">Chapters ▾</a> <div class='dropdown-panel' id='chapters-dropdown'> <div class='three-column'> <div class="column-left"> <ol class='book-toc'> <li class='chapter'> <h2>1. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-About-Version-Control">Getting Started</a></h2> <ol> <li> 1.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-About-Version-Control">About Version Control</a> </li> <li> 1.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-A-Short-History-of-Git">A Short History of Git</a> </li> <li> 1.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-What-is-Git%3F">What is Git?</a> </li> <li> 1.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-The-Command-Line">The Command Line</a> </li> <li> 1.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git">Installing Git</a> </li> <li> 1.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-First-Time-Git-Setup">First-Time Git Setup</a> </li> <li> 1.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-Getting-Help">Getting Help</a> </li> <li> 1.8 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Getting-Started-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>2. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Getting-a-Git-Repository">Git Basics</a></h2> <ol> <li> 2.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Getting-a-Git-Repository">Getting a Git Repository</a> </li> <li> 2.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Recording-Changes-to-the-Repository">Recording Changes to the Repository</a> </li> <li> 2.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Viewing-the-Commit-History">Viewing the Commit History</a> </li> <li> 2.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Undoing-Things">Undoing Things</a> </li> <li> 2.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Working-with-Remotes">Working with Remotes</a> </li> <li> 2.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Tagging">Tagging</a> </li> <li> 2.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Git-Aliases">Git Aliases</a> </li> <li> 2.8 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Basics-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>3. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Branches-in-a-Nutshell">Git Branching</a></h2> <ol> <li> 3.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Branches-in-a-Nutshell">Branches in a Nutshell</a> </li> <li> 3.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Basic-Branching-and-Merging">Basic Branching and Merging</a> </li> <li> 3.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Branch-Management" class="active">Branch Management</a> </li> <li> 3.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Branching-Workflows">Branching Workflows</a> </li> <li> 3.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Remote-Branches">Remote Branches</a> </li> <li> 3.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Rebasing">Rebasing</a> </li> <li> 3.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>4. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-The-Protocols">Git on the Server</a></h2> <ol> <li> 4.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-The-Protocols">The Protocols</a> </li> <li> 4.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Getting-Git-on-a-Server">Getting Git on a Server</a> </li> <li> 4.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Generating-Your-SSH-Public-Key">Generating Your SSH Public Key</a> </li> <li> 4.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Setting-Up-the-Server">Setting Up the Server</a> </li> <li> 4.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Git-Daemon">Git Daemon</a> </li> <li> 4.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Smart-HTTP">Smart HTTP</a> </li> <li> 4.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-GitWeb">GitWeb</a> </li> <li> 4.8 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-GitLab">GitLab</a> </li> <li> 4.9 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Third-Party-Hosted-Options">Third Party Hosted Options</a> </li> <li> 4.10 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>5. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Distributed-Git-Distributed-Workflows">Distributed Git</a></h2> <ol> <li> 5.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Distributed-Git-Distributed-Workflows">Distributed Workflows</a> </li> <li> 5.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Distributed-Git-Contributing-to-a-Project">Contributing to a Project</a> </li> <li> 5.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Distributed-Git-Maintaining-a-Project">Maintaining a Project</a> </li> <li> 5.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Distributed-Git-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </div> <div class='column-middle'> <ol class='book-toc'> <li class='chapter'> <h2>6. <a href="/book/ms/v2/GitHub-Account-Setup-and-Configuration">GitHub</a></h2> <ol> <li> 6.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/GitHub-Account-Setup-and-Configuration">Account Setup and Configuration</a> </li> <li> 6.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/GitHub-Contributing-to-a-Project">Contributing to a Project</a> </li> <li> 6.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/GitHub-Maintaining-a-Project">Maintaining a Project</a> </li> <li> 6.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/GitHub-Managing-an-organization">Managing an organization</a> </li> <li> 6.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/GitHub-Scripting-GitHub">Scripting GitHub</a> </li> <li> 6.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/GitHub-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>7. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Revision-Selection">Git Tools</a></h2> <ol> <li> 7.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Revision-Selection">Revision Selection</a> </li> <li> 7.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Interactive-Staging">Interactive Staging</a> </li> <li> 7.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Stashing-and-Cleaning">Stashing and Cleaning</a> </li> <li> 7.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Signing-Your-Work">Signing Your Work</a> </li> <li> 7.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Searching">Searching</a> </li> <li> 7.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Rewriting-History">Rewriting History</a> </li> <li> 7.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Reset-Demystified">Reset Demystified</a> </li> <li> 7.8 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Advanced-Merging">Advanced Merging</a> </li> <li> 7.9 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Rerere">Rerere</a> </li> <li> 7.10 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Debugging-with-Git">Debugging with Git</a> </li> <li> 7.11 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Submodules">Submodules</a> </li> <li> 7.12 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Bundling">Bundling</a> </li> <li> 7.13 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Replace">Replace</a> </li> <li> 7.14 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Credential-Storage">Credential Storage</a> </li> <li> 7.15 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Tools-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>8. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Configuration">Customizing Git</a></h2> <ol> <li> 8.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Configuration">Git Configuration</a> </li> <li> 8.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Attributes">Git Attributes</a> </li> <li> 8.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Hooks">Git Hooks</a> </li> <li> 8.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Customizing-Git-An-Example-Git-Enforced-Policy">An Example Git-Enforced Policy</a> </li> <li> 8.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Customizing-Git-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>9. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-and-Other-Systems-Git-as-a-Client">Git and Other Systems</a></h2> <ol> <li> 9.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-and-Other-Systems-Git-as-a-Client">Git as a Client</a> </li> <li> 9.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-and-Other-Systems-Migrating-to-Git">Migrating to Git</a> </li> <li> 9.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-and-Other-Systems-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>10. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Porcelain">Git Internals</a></h2> <ol> <li> 10.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Porcelain">Plumbing and Porcelain</a> </li> <li> 10.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Git-Objects">Git Objects</a> </li> <li> 10.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Git-References">Git References</a> </li> <li> 10.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Packfiles">Packfiles</a> </li> <li> 10.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-The-Refspec">The Refspec</a> </li> <li> 10.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Transfer-Protocols">Transfer Protocols</a> </li> <li> 10.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Maintenance-and-Data-Recovery">Maintenance and Data Recovery</a> </li> <li> 10.8 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Environment-Variables">Environment Variables</a> </li> <li> 10.9 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Internals-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </div> <div class='column-right'> <ol class='book-toc'> <li class='chapter'> <h2>A1. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Graphical-Interfaces">Appendix A: Git in Other Environments</a></h2> <ol> <li> A1.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Graphical-Interfaces">Graphical Interfaces</a> </li> <li> A1.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Visual-Studio">Git in Visual Studio</a> </li> <li> A1.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Visual-Studio-Code">Git in Visual Studio Code</a> </li> <li> A1.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-IntelliJ-/-PyCharm-/-WebStorm-/-PhpStorm-/-RubyMine">Git in IntelliJ / PyCharm / WebStorm / PhpStorm / RubyMine</a> </li> <li> A1.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Sublime-Text">Git in Sublime Text</a> </li> <li> A1.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Bash">Git in Bash</a> </li> <li> A1.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Zsh">Git in Zsh</a> </li> <li> A1.8 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-PowerShell">Git in PowerShell</a> </li> <li> A1.9 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Summary">Summary</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>A2. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-Command-line-Git">Appendix B: Embedding Git in your Applications</a></h2> <ol> <li> A2.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-Command-line-Git">Command-line Git</a> </li> <li> A2.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-Libgit2">Libgit2</a> </li> <li> A2.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-JGit">JGit</a> </li> <li> A2.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-go-git">go-git</a> </li> <li> A2.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-Dulwich">Dulwich</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li class='chapter'> <h2>A3. <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Setup-and-Config">Appendix C: Git Commands</a></h2> <ol> <li> A3.1 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Setup-and-Config">Setup and Config</a> </li> <li> A3.2 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Getting-and-Creating-Projects">Getting and Creating Projects</a> </li> <li> A3.3 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Basic-Snapshotting">Basic Snapshotting</a> </li> <li> A3.4 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Branching-and-Merging">Branching and Merging</a> </li> <li> A3.5 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Sharing-and-Updating-Projects">Sharing and Updating Projects</a> </li> <li> A3.6 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Inspection-and-Comparison">Inspection and Comparison</a> </li> <li> A3.7 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Debugging">Debugging</a> </li> <li> A3.8 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Patching">Patching</a> </li> <li> A3.9 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Email">Email</a> </li> <li> A3.10 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-External-Systems">External Systems</a> </li> <li> A3.11 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Administration">Administration</a> </li> <li> A3.12 <a href="/book/ms/v2/Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Plumbing-Commands">Plumbing Commands</a> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </div> </div> </div> <span class="light" id="edition"> 2nd Edition </span> </div> <div id="main" data-pagefind-filter="category:book" data-pagefind-meta="category:Book" data-pagefind-weight="0.05" data-pagefind-body class="book edition2"> <h1>3.3 Git Branching - Branch Management</h1> <div> <h2 id="_branch_management">Branch Management</h2> <div class="paragraph"> <p> Now that you’ve created, merged, and deleted some branches, let’s look at some branch-management tools that will come in handy when you begin using branches all the time.</p> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>The <code>git branch</code> command does more than just create and delete branches. If you run it with no arguments, you get a simple listing of your current branches:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch iss53 * master testing</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Notice the <code>*</code> character that prefixes the <code>master</code> branch: it indicates the branch that you currently have checked out (i.e., the branch that <code>HEAD</code> points to). This means that if you commit at this point, the <code>master</code> branch will be moved forward with your new work. To see the last commit on each branch, you can run <code>git branch -v</code>:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch -v iss53 93b412c Fix javascript issue * master 7a98805 Merge branch 'iss53' testing 782fd34 Add scott to the author list in the readme</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>The useful <code>--merged</code> and <code>--no-merged</code> options can filter this list to branches that you have or have not yet merged into the branch you’re currently on. To see which branches are already merged into the branch you’re on, you can run <code>git branch --merged</code>:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch --merged iss53 * master</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Because you already merged in <code>iss53</code> earlier, you see it in your list. Branches on this list without the <code>*</code> in front of them are generally fine to delete with <code>git branch -d</code>; you’ve already incorporated their work into another branch, so you’re not going to lose anything.</p> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>To see all the branches that contain work you haven’t yet merged in, you can run <code>git branch --no-merged</code>:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch --no-merged testing</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>This shows your other branch. Because it contains work that isn’t merged in yet, trying to delete it with <code>git branch -d</code> will fail:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch -d testing error: The branch 'testing' is not fully merged. If you are sure you want to delete it, run 'git branch -D testing'.</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>If you really do want to delete the branch and lose that work, you can force it with <code>-D</code>, as the helpful message points out.</p> </div> <div class="admonitionblock tip"> <table> <tr> <td class="icon"> <div class="title">Tip</div> </td> <td class="content"> <div class="paragraph"> <p>The options described above, <code>--merged</code> and <code>--no-merged</code> will, if not given a commit or branch name as an argument, show you what is, respectively, merged or not merged into your <em>current</em> branch.</p> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>You can always provide an additional argument to ask about the merge state with respect to some other branch without checking that other branch out first, as in, what is not merged into the <code>master</code> branch?</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git checkout testing $ git branch --no-merged master topicA featureB</code></pre> </div> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div class="sect3"> <h3 id="_changing_a_branch_name">Changing a branch name</h3> <div class="admonitionblock caution"> <table> <tr> <td class="icon"> <div class="title">Caution</div> </td> <td class="content"> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Do not rename branches that are still in use by other collaborators. Do not rename a branch like master/main/mainline without having read the section "Changing the master branch name".</p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Suppose you have a branch that is called <code>bad-branch-name</code> and you want to change it to <code>corrected-branch-name</code>, while keeping all history. You also want to change the branch name on the remote (GitHub, GitLab, other server). How do you do this?</p> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Rename the branch locally with the <code>git branch --move</code> command:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch --move bad-branch-name corrected-branch-name</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>This replaces your <code>bad-branch-name</code> with <code>corrected-branch-name</code>, but this change is only local for now. To let others see the corrected branch on the remote, push it:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git push --set-upstream origin corrected-branch-name</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Now we’ll take a brief look at where we are now:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch --all * corrected-branch-name main remotes/origin/bad-branch-name remotes/origin/corrected-branch-name remotes/origin/main</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Notice that you’re on the branch <code>corrected-branch-name</code> and it’s available on the remote. However, the branch with the bad name is also still present there but you can delete it by executing the following command:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git push origin --delete bad-branch-name</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Now the bad branch name is fully replaced with the corrected branch name.</p> </div> <div class="sect4"> <h4 id="_changing_the_master_branch_name">Changing the master branch name</h4> <div class="admonitionblock warning"> <table> <tr> <td class="icon"> <div class="title">Warning</div> </td> <td class="content"> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Changing the name of a branch like master/main/mainline/default will break the integrations, services, helper utilities and build/release scripts that your repository uses. Before you do this, make sure you consult with your collaborators. Also, make sure you do a thorough search through your repo and update any references to the old branch name in your code and scripts.</p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Rename your local <code>master</code> branch into <code>main</code> with the following command:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch --move master main</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>There’s no local <code>master</code> branch anymore, because it’s renamed to the <code>main</code> branch.</p> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>To let others see the new <code>main</code> branch, you need to push it to the remote. This makes the renamed branch available on the remote.</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git push --set-upstream origin main</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Now we end up with the following state:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch --all * main remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master remotes/origin/main remotes/origin/master</code></pre> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Your local <code>master</code> branch is gone, as it’s replaced with the <code>main</code> branch. The <code>main</code> branch is present on the remote. However, the old <code>master</code> branch is still present on the remote. Other collaborators will continue to use the <code>master</code> branch as the base of their work, until you make some further changes.</p> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>Now you have a few more tasks in front of you to complete the transition:</p> </div> <div class="ulist"> <ul> <li> <p>Any projects that depend on this one will need to update their code and/or configuration.</p> </li> <li> <p>Update any test-runner configuration files.</p> </li> <li> <p>Adjust build and release scripts.</p> </li> <li> <p>Redirect settings on your repo host for things like the repo’s default branch, merge rules, and other things that match branch names.</p> </li> <li> <p>Update references to the old branch in documentation.</p> </li> <li> <p>Close or merge any pull requests that target the old branch.</p> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="paragraph"> <p>After you’ve done all these tasks, and are certain the <code>main</code> branch performs just as the <code>master</code> branch, you can delete the <code>master</code> branch:</p> </div> <div class="listingblock"> <div class="content"> <pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git push origin --delete master</code></pre> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="nav"><a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Basic-Branching-and-Merging">prev</a> | <a href="/book/ms/v2/Git-Branching-Branching-Workflows">next</a></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer> <div class="site-source"> <a href="/site">About this site</a><br> Patches, suggestions, and comments are welcome. </div> <div class="sfc-member"> Git is a member of <a href="/sfc">Software Freedom Conservancy</a> </div> </footer> <a href="#top" class="no-js scrollToTop" id="scrollToTop" data-label="Scroll to top"> <img src="/images/icons/chevron-up@2x.png" width="20" height="20" alt="scroll-to-top"/> </a> <script src="/js/jquery-1.7.1.min.js"></script> <script src="/js/jquery-ui-1.8.18.custom.min.js"></script> <script src="/js/jquery.defaultvalue.js"></script> <script src="/js/session.min.js"></script> <script src="/js/application.min.js"></script> </div> </body> </html>

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Git - Branch Management