What's the difference between git reset --mixed, --soft, and --hard?

Question

I\'m looking to split a commit up and not sure which reset option to use.

I was looking at the page In plain English, what does "git reset" do?, but I real

Answer 1

There are a number of answers here with a misconception about git reset --soft. While there is a specific condition in which git reset --soft will only change HEAD (starting from a detached head state), typically (and for the intended use), it moves the branch reference you currently have checked out. Of course it can't do this if you don't have a branch checked out (hence the specific condition where git reset --soft will only change HEAD).

I've found this to be the best way to think about git reset. You're not just moving HEAD (everything does that), you're also moving the branch ref, e.g., master. This is similar to what happens when you run git commit (the current branch moves along with HEAD), except instead of creating (and moving to) a new commit, you move to a prior commit.

This is the point of reset, changing a branch to something other than a new commit, not changing HEAD. You can see this in the documentation example:

Undo a commit, making it a topic branch

          $ git branch topic/wip     (1)
          $ git reset --hard HEAD~3  (2)
          $ git checkout topic/wip   (3)

1. You have made some commits, but realize they were premature to be in the "master" branch. You want to continue polishing them in a topic branch, so create "topic/wip" branch off of the current HEAD.
2. Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three commits.
3. Switch to "topic/wip" branch and keep working.

What's the point of this series of commands? You want to move a branch, here master, so while you have master checked out, you run git reset.

The top voted answer here is generally good, but I thought I'd add this to correct the several answers with misconceptions.

Change your branch

git reset --soft : resets the branch pointer for the currently checked out branch to the commit at the specified reference, . Files in your working directory and index are not changed. Committing from this stage will take you right back to where you were before the git reset command.

Change your index too

git reset --mixed

or equivalently

git reset :

Does what --soft does AND also resets the index to the match the commit at the specified reference. While git reset --soft HEAD does nothing (because it says move the checked out branch to the checked out branch), git reset --mixed HEAD, or equivalently git reset HEAD, is a common and useful command because it resets the index to the state of your last commit.

Change your working directory too

git reset --hard : does what --mixed does AND also overwrites your working directory. This command is similar to git checkout , except that (and this is the crucial point about reset) all forms of git reset move the branch ref HEAD is pointing to.

A note about "such and such command moves the HEAD":

It is not useful to say a command moves the HEAD. Any command that changes where you are in your commit history moves the HEAD. That's what the HEAD is, a pointer to wherever you are. HEADis you, and so will move whenever you do.