[git] How can I move a tag on a git branch to a different commit?

I created a tag on the master branch called v0.1 like this:

git tag -a v0.1

But then I realized there were still some changes I needed to merge into master for release 0.1, so I did that. But now my v0.1 tag is stuck on (to invoke the post-it note analogy) the wrong commit. I want it to be stuck on the most recent commit on master, but instead it is stuck on the second most recent commit on master.

How can I move it to the most recent commit on master?

This question is related to git git-tag

The answer is


I'll leave here just another form of this command that suited my needs.
There was a tag v0.0.1.2 that I wanted to move.

$ git tag -f v0.0.1.2 63eff6a

Updated tag 'v0.0.1.2' (was 8078562)

And then:

$ git push --tags --force

If you want to move an annotated tag, changing only the targeted commit but preserving the annotation message and other metadata use:

moveTag() {
  local tagName=$1
  # Support passing branch/tag names (not just full commit hashes)
  local newTarget=$(git rev-parse $2^{commit})

  git cat-file -p refs/tags/$tagName | 
    sed "1 s/^object .*$/object $newTarget/g" | 
    git hash-object -w --stdin -t tag | 
    xargs -I {} git update-ref refs/tags/$tagName {}
}

usage: moveTag <tag-to-move> <target>

The above function was developed by referencing teerapap/git-move-annotated-tag.sh.


Alias to move one tag to a different commit.

In your sample, to move commit with hash e2ea1639 do: git tagm v0.1 e2ea1639.

For pushed tags, use git tagmp v0.1 e2ea1639.

Both alias keeps you original date and message. If you use git tag -d you lost your original message.

Save them on your .gitconfig file

# Return date of tag. (To use in another alias)
tag-date = "!git show $1 | awk '{ if ($1 == \"Date:\") { print substr($0, index($0,$3)) }}' | tail -2 | head -1 #"

# Show tag message
tag-message = "!git show $1 | awk -v capture=0 '{ if(capture) message=message\"\\n\"$0}; BEGIN {message=\"\"}; { if ($1 == \"Date:\" && length(message)==0 ) {capture=1}; if ($1 == \"commit\" ) {capture=0}  }; END { print message }' | sed '$ d' | cat -s #"

### Move tag. Use: git tagm <tagname> <newcommit> 
tagm = "!GIT_TAG_MESSAGE=$(git tag-message $1) && GIT_COMMITTER_DATE=$(git tag-date $1) && git tag-message $1 && git tag -d $1 && git tag -a $1 $2 -m \"$GIT_TAG_MESSAGE\" #"

### Move pushed tag. Use: git tagmp <tagname> <newcommit> 
tagmp = "!git tagm $1 $2 && git push --delete origin $1 && git push origin $1 #"

More precisely, you have to force the addition of the tag, then push with option --tags and -f:

git tag -f -a <tagname>
git push -f --tags

One other way:

Move tag in remote repo.(Replace HEAD with any other if needed.)

$ git push --force origin HEAD:refs/tags/v0.0.1.2

Fetch changes back.

$ git fetch --tags

Delete it with git tag -d <tagname> and then recreate it on the correct commit.


To sum up if your remote is called origin and you're working on master branch:

git tag -d <tagname>
git push origin :refs/tags/<tagname>
git tag <tagname> <commitId>
git push origin <tagname>
  • Line 1 removes the tag in local env.
  • Line 2 removes the tag in remote env.
  • Line 3 adds the tag to different commit
  • Line 4 pushes the change to the remote

You can also exchange line 4 to git push origin --tags to push all the changes with tags from your local changes.

Basing on @stuart-golodetz, @greg-hewgill, @eedeep, @ben-hocking answers, comments below their answers and NateS comments below my answer.


I try to avoid a few things when using Git.

  1. Using knowledge of the internals, e.g. refs/tags. I try to use solely the documented Git commands and avoid using things which require knowledge of the internal contents of the .git directory. (That is to say, I treat Git as a Git user and not a Git developer.)

  2. The use of force when not required.

  3. Overdoing things. (Pushing a branch and/or lots of tags, to get one tag where I want it.)

So here is my non-violent solution for changing a tag, both locally and remotely, without knowledge of the Git internals.

I use it when a software fix ultimately has a problem and needs to be updated/re-released.

git tag -d fix123                # delete the old local tag
git push github :fix123          # delete the old remote tag (use for each affected remote)
git tag fix123 790a621265        # create a new local tag
git push github fix123           # push new tag to remote    (use for each affected remote)

github is a sample remote name, fix123 is a sample tag name, and 790a621265 a sample commit.