Question

Possible Duplicate / a more recent/less clear question
Branch from a previous commit using Git

I have a Git branch called jzbranch and have an old commit id: a9c146a09505837ec03b.

How do I create a new branch, justin, from the information listed above?

Answer 1

git checkout -b NEW_BRANCH_NAME COMMIT_ID

This will create a new branch called ‘NEW_BRANCH_NAME’ and check it out.

("check out" means "to switch to the branch")

git branch NEW_BRANCH_NAME COMMIT_ID

This just creates the new branch without checking it out.

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in the comments many people seem to prefer doing this in two steps. here’s how to do so in two steps:

git checkout COMMIT_ID
# you are now in the "detached head" state
git checkout -b NEW_BRANCH_NAME