git stash

Put work aside with stash

Lesson 18 of 20 · 9 min · Module 5: Teamwork and fixing mistakes

You are in the middle of something when an urgent fix comes in. You do not want to commit half-done work, and you do not want to lose it. Stash it.

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Stash uncommitted work, including new files
Make an urgent fix on a clean tree
Bring stashed work back

The idea

git stash saves your uncommitted changes and leaves a clean working tree. New, untracked files stay put unless you add -u. git stash list shows saved stashes, and git stash pop brings the latest one back and removes it from the list. git stash push -m "message" gives a stash a name.

git stash -u
git stash list
git stash pop

01Stash: a shelf for unfinished work

git stash saves your uncommitted changes and gives you a clean working tree. With -u, new files go on the shelf too.

git stash -u
git stash list
git status --short

Output

Saved working directory and index state WIP on main: 6688add Add a blog to the menu
stash@{0}: WIP on main: 6688add Add a blog to the menu

02Fix, commit, come back

With a clean tree you can make an urgent fix, or switch branches. git stash pop then brings the latest stash back and removes it from the list.

printf 'Home\nAbout\nBlog\n' > menu.txt
git commit -am "Fix a typo in the menu"
git stash pop

Output

[main c3fb643] Fix a typo in the menu
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
	modified:   style.css

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	draft.md

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
Dropped refs/stash@{0} (68e65b680e6691e163bfc64dc689ac86f321a0b2)

03Name your stashes

git stash push -m "redesign" stores a message with the stash. With several stashes, git stash list shows them as stash@{0}, stash@{1} and so on, and git stash pop stash@{1} picks a specific one.

Your turn

You are halfway through a redesign when someone reports a typo: the menu says Abuot. Put your unfinished work aside with git stash -u, so the new file draft.md is included. Fix the menu so it reads Home, About, Blog, and commit only that as Fix a typo in the menu. Then bring your redesign back with git stash pop.

What the checks look for

The typo fix is committed on its own
Your redesign is back
The stash list is empty again
Stashes the new file too

Try it in the editor →

Take this with you

git stash -u puts work aside; git stash pop brings it back.

Go a little further

Stash twice with different messages using git stash push -m, then look at git stash list and git stash show -p stash@{1}.