20+ Most Used Git & GitHub Commands Every Developer Should Know (With Detailed Examples)

Initializing & Setting Up Repositories

1. git init

Initialize a new Git repository in your current directory.

git init

Creates a .git folder to track your project.

2. git clone

Clone a remote repository to your local machine.

git clone https://github.com/username/repo.git

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Checking Status & Changes

3. git status

Displays the status of staged, unstaged, and untracked files.

git status

4. git diff

Shows differences between working directory and the index (or last commit).

git diff

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Adding & Committing Changes

5. git add

Stages changes to be committed.

git add .     # add all files
git add file1.js file2.css  # add specific files

6. git commit -m "message"

Saves staged changes with a message.

git commit -m "Fixed login bug"

7. git commit -am "message"

Adds and commits tracked files in one step.

git commit -am "Quick fix"

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Remote Repositories

8. git remote add origin

Link local repo to a remote GitHub repo.

git remote add origin https://github.com/username/repo.git

9. git push

Push commits to remote repository.

git push origin main

10. git pull

Fetch and merge changes from the remote repo.

git pull origin main

11. git fetch

Fetches updates from the remote without merging.

git fetch origin

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Branching & Merging

12. git branch

Create or list branches.

git branch          # list branches
git branch feature  # create new branch

13. git checkout

Switch to a branch.

git checkout feature

14. git merge

Merge one branch into another.

git checkout main
git merge feature

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Stashing Changes

15. git stash

Temporarily save uncommitted changes.

git stash

16. git stash pop

Reapply stashed changes.

git stash pop

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Undoing Mistakes

17. git reset

Unstage a file or revert commits.

git reset file.js       # unstage file
git reset --hard HEAD~1 # delete last commit

18. git revert

Undo a specific commit by creating a new one.

git revert <commit-hash>

19. git checkout -- filename

Discard changes to a file.

git checkout -- index.html

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Configuration & Logs

20. git config

Configure Git settings.

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

21. git log

View commit history.

git log

Use git log --oneline for a compact view.

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Bonus Tips

Create Aliases

git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.st status

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💬 Have questions or got stuck while following this guide?

Drop your doubts in the comments — I’d love to help you out!

— ✍️ Written by Rohit @ TechWithRohit