Question

I am relatively new to using Git. This is what I’ve done so far:

$ git branch
* master

$ git status
# On branch master
nothing to commit (working directory clean)

$ git branch mywork
$ git checkout mywork
$ git branch
* mywork
  master

...modify some files...

$ git status
# On branch mywork
# Changed but not updated:
#   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
#   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
#
#   modified:   file1.html
#   modified:   file2.html
#
no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

Now if I switch to my other branch, I expect my changes to stay within this branch. However, it looks like the changes come with me:

$ git checkout master
M   file1.html
M   file2.html
Switched to branch 'master'

$ git status
# On branch master
# Changed but not updated:
#   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
#   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
#
#   modified:   file1.html
#   modified:   file2.html
#
no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

Am I doing something wrong? Or am I misunderstanding my use of Git?

Answer 1

Before switching back to your master branch, you need to add and commit your changes to the branch.

Use:

git checkout mywork
# Modify files

git add . # Adds all edited files to the repository
git commit -m "Message about the changes"

git checkout master

You can find lots of information about Git at The Git Book