Git Reset Hard to Remote - Shell/Bash

When working with Git, it is common to make mistakes and commit changes that you did not intend to. Thankfully, Git provides several commands that allow you to undo these changes. One such command is git reset.

Git reset allows you to move the current branch to a different commit, effectively undoing all the changes that were made after that commit. The command has several modes that determine which changes are preserved. In this article, we will focus on the --hard mode.

The --hard mode

The --hard mode of git reset is the most powerful and also the most dangerous. When you use this mode, Git will remove all changes that were made after the specified commit. This means that any uncommitted changes you have will be lost, and there will be no way to recover them.

It is important to note that the --hard mode only affects the current branch. If you have made changes to other branches, they will not be affected.

Resetting to remote

Sometimes, you may need to reset your branch to match the state of a remote branch. This can happen if someone else on your team has made changes to the remote branch that you need to incorporate into your own branch.

To reset your branch to match the remote branch, you can use the git reset command with the --hard and origin/branch-name options:

$ git reset --hard origin/branch-name

This command will move your branch to the same commit as the remote branch and discard any changes that were made after that commit.

Conclusion

Using git reset --hard can be a powerful way to undo changes in Git. However, it is important to use this command with caution, as it can be easy to accidentally lose data. When resetting to match a remote branch, be sure to specify the branch name correctly. By understanding how to use git reset, you can become a more confident and efficient Git user.