How to Reset Changes in a Single File in Git

Sometimes you make a mistake and need to reset some changes in your local repository. More specifically, sometimes you only need to replace a single file.

In this post, we'll learn how to reset the state of a single file in your local repository to any commit or branch you have.

Resetting a Single File

To reset a single file, simple use the git checkout command.

Let's say our file was called README.md and we want to reset it to the latest version of the same branch:

	git checkout -- README.md

This will reset any changes you've made to the file since the last commit.

Specify a Commit

Maybe you don't want the latest but instead a specific commit. To specify a commit, add it to the git checkout command:

	git checkout [commit hash here] -- README.md

Specify a Branch

You can also specify a branch to reset to, rather than a commit hash on the same branch:

	git checkout [branch name here] -- README.md

For example:

	git checkout origin/master -- README.md

Reset a Stage File

When you've staged a file already, like running this command:

	git add README.md

You will first need to unstage the file. To do so, use the git reset command:

	git reset HEAD README.md

Once that's done, you can run your usual git checkout command to reset the file to the latest version of the same branch.

	git checkout -- README.md

Conclusion

In this post, we've seen how you can reset a single file in your local repository to any commit or branch you have.

You can also reset a file to a specific commit or branch, depending on your needs. You can even reset a file you've already staged.

Hopefully, this post has helpful information for you. Thanks for reading!

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