Question

A common thing I’d like to do is revert my working copy to a particular revision, do some testing, and then bring it back to the head of my current master. In the past I have naively done a “git checkout hash” only to lose my head. I’ve since learned I can create a branch and check that out, switch back and delete the branch, but it feels like too many steps for a simple check. In SVN parlance, is there a way to quickly revert and then quickly go back to the tip of trunk in git?

Edit: I think my confusion stems from the fact that when I checkout a hash and then git log, I don’t see the changes that happened after the checked out hash (which is reasonable, when you think of it). But the accepted answer is correct; “git checkout branch” will restore the head to the previous branch.

Answer 1

Assuming you’re already on a branch (which you always should be for changes you want to keep), you can just do

git checkout <revision to check out>

This will take you off the topic branch you were working on into (no branch), in which the working copy refers directly to a commit ID rather than a branch name as normal.

Then to move back, simply:

git checkout <old branch name>

A helpful way to think of it is this: git checkout never alters branches; it merely changes what your working copy is currently looking at (ie, HEAD), which might either be a branch (in which case commits will update the branch) or a random commit hash.

As such, as long as the changes you want to keep are on a branch, you don’t have to worry about git checkout losing them.