Stash

The stash command is used when a developer would like to save changes locally to their machine rather than committing them. This is often used when a developer would like to switch branches in the middle of an effort but the code they are working on is not yet ready to be committed.

Example

In the following example, git stash is used to save changes locally and then re-apply those changes when the developer is ready. First, git status is used to check the status of the working branch. Then, git stash is used to save those changes locally. Finally, git status is used again to show that the working tree is clean and the developer can switch branches.

$ git status

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
  modified:   <directory>/<files>

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

$ git stash

Saved working directory and index state WIP on main: 54ed281 19

$ git status

On branch main
nothing to commit, working tree clean

To reapply the changes that were stashed, the developer has two options:

• git stash pop is used in the first example and takes the changes from the stash to reapply them.
• git stash apply is used in the second example and reapplies the changes while also keeping them in the stash.

$ git stash pop

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
  modified:   <directory>/<file>

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
Dropped refs/stash@{0} (9909a424d2ec2192a7b23a4a707e20ce9b4fd4c6)

$ git stash apply

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
  modified:   <directory>/<file>

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

There are eight additional options for git stash:

• -u: This is used to stash untracked files, which git does not automatically stash. Untracked files are new files in the branch that have not been staged, and ignored files.
• list: View a list of all stashes saved locally.
• save <note> : Name the stash that is being saved. This is similar to a commit message. Git automatically names stashes “WIP” for work in progress, so names are useful for developers to reference if they are saving multiple stashes.
• show: Git gives a summary of the stashed changes.
  • show -p: Git gives a full description of the stashed changes.
• -p: Git walks through each change that can potentially be saved to ask the developer which parts they would like to stash.
• branch <name> <stash_name>: Git creates a new branch with the given name and pops the stash into the branch, dropping the changes from the stash.
• drop <stash_name>: Git deletes the given stash.
• clear: Git deletes all stashes.