When working with Git, stashing changes is a helpful way to temporarily save them without committing. This guide will explore how to restore a git stash, ensuring that you can confidently manage your changes and integrate them back into your active branch.
Understanding Git stash
Git stash temporarily shelves (or stashes) changes you've made to your working directory so you can work on something else, then come back and re-apply them later on. The stashed changes are stored in a stack-like structure managed by Git, allowing multiple stashes at the same time.
How to stash changes
Before restoring stashes, it's important to know how to create them. Here’s how to stash your current changes:
git stash push -m "Message describing the stash"
You can include untracked files with your stash by adding the -u or --include-untracked option:
git stash push -u -m "Include untracked files"
Restoring stashes
Viewing your stashes
To see a list of all your stashes, use:
git stash list
This command displays all stashes stored in the stash stack. Each entry is indexed starting from 0.
Restoring a stash
To apply a stashed change and remove it from the stash stack, use:
git stash pop
If you want to specify a particular stash, you can provide the stash ID, which you can find using git stash list:
git stash pop stash@{0}
Applying a stash without removing it
If you want to apply changes from a stash but keep the stash in your stack for future use, use:
git stash apply
To apply a specific stash:
git stash apply stash@{0}
Keep stashed changes and index
To apply the changes exactly as they were stashed, including staged changes, use the --index flag:
git stash apply --index
This means that any changes you had staged (added to the index) when you created the stash will remain staged after you apply the stash, preserving the state of your workspace precisely.
Dropping a stash
If you decide you no longer need a stash, you can remove it from the stack with:
git stash drop stash@{0}
Clear all stashes
To remove all stashed entries:
git stash clear
Best practices for restoring stashes
- Verify before popping: Always review the stash content (
git stash show -p stash@{0}) before applying it to avoid merging unwanted changes. - Regularly prune stashes: Manage your stash list by clearing out old or unnecessary stashes to keep your repository clean.
- Backup before apply: Before applying a stash to a working directory with other changes, consider committing current changes to avoid conflicts.
For further reading on the git stash command see the official Git documentation.
