When working on a project in Git, you might find yourself in a situation where you have made changes to untracked files, but you are not ready to commit them yet. In such cases, Git offers a handy tool called "stash" that allows you to save these changes temporarily while you work on something else.
In this article, we will explore how to use Git stash to save changes to untracked files. We will look at some code examples to demonstrate how to stash and unstash these changes.
What are untracked files in Git?
Before we dive into Git stash, let's first understand what untracked files mean in Git. Simply put, untracked files are the files in your working directory that Git is not tracking. These are usually the newly created files or files that are not yet added to Git.
Why stash untracked files?
Sometimes, you might find yourself in a situation where you need to switch to a different branch or work on a different task in your project, but you have made some changes to untracked files that you don't want to commit yet. In such cases, if you switch to a different task or branch, Git will simply ignore these files and they will not be saved.
This is where the Git stash command comes in handy. Stashing untracked files allows you to save these changes temporarily before switching to a different branch or task. Later, you can unstash these changes and continue working on them.
How to stash untracked files in Git?
To stash untracked files in Git, you can use the following command:
git stash save --include-untracked
The above command will stash all the changes, including the untracked files. The --include-untracked option tells Git to include the untracked files in the stash.
Let's say you have made some changes to a couple of untracked files in your project. To stash these changes, you can run the following commands:
$ git status
On branch main
Untracked files:
(use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
newfile1.txt
newfile2.txt
nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)
$ git stash save --include-untracked
Saved working directory and index state On main: WIP on temp_branch: 0123456 Commit message goes here
In the above example, we have first checked the status of our Git repository using the git status command. This shows that we have two untracked files in our working directory: newfile1.txt and newfile2.txt.
Next, we have used the git stash save --include-untracked command to stash these changes. The output shows that Git has saved the changes successfully.
How to unstash untracked files in Git?
To unstash the previously stashed untracked files in Git, you can use the following command:
git stash apply
The above command will unstash the most recent stash. If you have multiple stashes, you can specify the stash index using the following command:
git stash apply stash@{n}
where n is the index of the stash you want to apply.
Let's say we want to unstash the changes we saved earlier. To do this, we can run the following command:
$ 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: existingfile.txt
new file: newfile1.txt
new file: newfile2.txt
no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
Dropped refs/stash@{0} (6d2cb85a6b9b735ae3c06c234a7798d5c9834d93)
In the above example, we have used the git stash apply command to unstash the changes we saved earlier. The output shows that Git has successfully unstash the changes and displays the changes that were stashed.
Conclusion
Git stash is a handy feature that allows you to save changes temporarily while you work on something else. Stashing untracked files can be useful when you need to switch to a different task or branch, but you have made some changes to untracked files that you don't want to commit yet. With the help of the above code examples, you can now easily stash and unstash untracked files in Git.
I can elaborate further on the topics covered in the article.
Untracked files in Git
In Git, untracked files are the files that exist in your working directory but are not being tracked by Git. These files are not part of the Git repository yet and Git is not aware of their existence.
Untracked files can arise when you create new files or when you move or rename files in your project. Git does not automatically track these changes unless you explicitly tell it to.
To see the list of untracked files in your working directory, you can use the git status command. The output will show a list of untracked files under the "Untracked files" section.
$ git status
On branch main
Untracked files:
(use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
newfile.txt
To track untracked files in Git, you can use the git add command. This command adds the selected files to the staging area and makes them ready for commit.
$ git add newfile.txt
Git Stash
Git stash is a powerful feature that allows you to save your changes temporarily while you work on something else. It is like a drawer where you can put your changes away and pick them up later when you are ready to work on them again.
Git stash comes in handy when you are working on a task, and you have made some changes to your files that you are not yet ready to commit. When you need to switch to a different branch or work on a different task, you can create a stash to save your changes.
To stash your changes, you can use the git stash command. This command saves your changes to a special location and reverts your working directory to the last committed state.
$ git stash
Saved working directory and index state WIP on main: 0123456 Add new feature
Once you have created a stash, you can switch to a different branch or work on a different task without worrying about your changes.
To apply your saved changes, you can use the git stash apply command. This command reapplies the changes that were stashed and brings your working directory back to the same state it was in before stashing.
$ git stash apply
If you want to remove the saved stash, you can use the git stash drop command. This command removes the specified stash from the stash list.
$ git stash drop stash@{n}
Where n is the index of the stash you want to remove.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Git stash is an essential feature of Git that allows you to save your changes temporarily while you work on something else. It is a powerful feature that can come in handy when you need to switch to a different branch or work on a different task without committing your changes. With the help of the above information, managing your untracked files and using Git stash will be a breeze.
Popular questions
Sure, here are five questions with their answers regarding the topic of "Git stash untracked files with code examples":
- What are untracked files in Git?
Untracked files are the files in your working directory that Git is not tracking. These are usually the newly created files or files that are not yet added to Git.
- Why should I stash untracked files in Git?
Stashing untracked files allows you to save changes to these files temporarily before switching to a different branch or task. Later, you can unstash these changes and continue working on them.
- How can I stash untracked files in Git?
To stash untracked files in Git, you can use the command git stash save --include-untracked. This command will stash all the changes, including the untracked files, and the option --include-untracked tells Git to include the untracked files in the stash.
- How can I unstash untracked files in Git?
To unstash the previously stashed untracked files in Git, you can use the command git stash apply. This command will unstash the most recent stash. If you have multiple stashes, you can specify the stash index using the command git stash apply stash@{n}, where n is the index of the stash you want to apply.
- How can I remove a saved stash?
To remove a saved stash in Git, you can use the command git stash drop stash@{n}, where n is the index of the stash you want to remove. This command removes the specified stash from the stash list.
Tag
Git-Untracked-Stash
