How to Reset Changes in a Single File in Git
Table of Contents
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:
BASH[git](https://sabe.io/tutorials/learn-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:
BASHgit 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:
BASHgit checkout [branch name here] -- README.md
For example:
BASHgit checkout origin/master -- README.md
Reset a Stage File
When you've staged a file already, like running this command:
BASHgit add README.md
You will first need to unstage the file. To do so, use the git reset
command:
BASHgit 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.
BASHgit 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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