[git] What's the difference between Git Revert, Checkout and Reset?

These three commands have entirely different purposes. They are not even remotely similar.

git revert

This command creates a new commit that undoes the changes from a previous commit. This command adds new history to the project (it doesn't modify existing history).

git checkout

This command checks-out content from the repository and puts it in your work tree. It can also have other effects, depending on how the command was invoked. For instance, it can also change which branch you are currently working on. This command doesn't make any changes to the history.

git reset

This command is a little more complicated. It actually does a couple of different things depending on how it is invoked. It modifies the index (the so-called "staging area"). Or it changes which commit a branch head is currently pointing at. This command may alter existing history (by changing the commit that a branch references).

Using these commands

If a commit has been made somewhere in the project's history, and you later decide that the commit is wrong and should not have been done, then git revert is the tool for the job. It will undo the changes introduced by the bad commit, recording the "undo" in the history.

If you have modified a file in your working tree, but haven't committed the change, then you can use git checkout to checkout a fresh-from-repository copy of the file.

If you have made a commit, but haven't shared it with anyone else and you decide you don't want it, then you can use git reset to rewrite the history so that it looks as though you never made that commit.

These are just some of the possible usage scenarios. There are other commands that can be useful in some situations, and the above three commands have other uses as well.

Examples related to git

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Examples related to git-checkout

How can I switch to another branch in git? Git checkout - switching back to HEAD What is git tag, How to create tags & How to checkout git remote tag(s) How can I move HEAD back to a previous location? (Detached head) & Undo commits error: pathspec 'test-branch' did not match any file(s) known to git git checkout all the files How can I check out a GitHub pull request with git? "Cannot update paths and switch to branch at the same time" error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by checkout Git command to checkout any branch and overwrite local changes

Examples related to git-reset

How to undo the last commit in git How can I move HEAD back to a previous location? (Detached head) & Undo commits What is difference between 'git reset --hard HEAD~1' and 'git reset --soft HEAD~1'? Git, How to reset origin/master to a commit? Can I delete a git commit but keep the changes? What is the meaning of git reset --hard origin/master? How to git reset --hard a subdirectory? git undo all uncommitted or unsaved changes Unstaged changes left after git reset --hard How do I use 'git reset --hard HEAD' to revert to a previous commit?

Examples related to git-revert

How to undo the last commit in git How can I move HEAD back to a previous location? (Detached head) & Undo commits How to undo local changes to a specific file How do I use 'git reset --hard HEAD' to revert to a previous commit? What's the difference between Git Revert, Checkout and Reset? Why does git revert complain about a missing -m option? How to revert uncommitted changes including files and folders? Reset all changes after last commit in git How do I revert a Git repository to a previous commit? Undo a particular commit in Git that's been pushed to remote repos