10 Git Commands That Will Save You Hours Every Week

Most developers use only a fraction of Git's capabilities. These 10 commands will dramatically improve your daily Git workflow and save you hours of work every week.

1. git stash — Save Work in Progress

# Stash current changes
git stash save "WIP: fixing login bug"

# List all stashes
git stash list

# Apply most recent stash
git stash pop

# Apply specific stash
git stash apply stash@{2}

# Stash including untracked files
git stash -u

2. git log --graph --oneline — Visual History

# Beautiful branch visualization
git log --graph --oneline --all --decorate

# Create an alias for convenience
git config --global alias.lg "log --graph --oneline --all --decorate"

# Now just use:
git lg

3. git diff --staged — Review Before Committing

# See what you are about to commit
git diff --staged

# Diff with word-level changes
git diff --staged --word-diff

# Diff specific file
git diff --staged path/to/file.py

4. git commit --amend — Fix Last Commit

# Fix the last commit message
git commit --amend -m "Correct commit message"

# Add forgotten files to last commit
git add forgotten-file.js
git commit --amend --no-edit

5. git cherry-pick — Copy Specific Commits

# Apply a specific commit to current branch
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Cherry-pick without committing
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc1234

# Cherry-pick a range
git cherry-pick abc1234..def5678

6. git bisect — Find Bug-Introducing Commits

# Start bisecting
git bisect start
git bisect bad          # Current version is broken
git bisect good v1.0    # v1.0 was working

# Git checks out a middle commit - test it
# Then mark it:
git bisect good  # or  git bisect bad

# Repeat until Git identifies the exact commit
git bisect reset  # When done

7. git reflog — Recover Lost Work

# Show all recent HEAD movements
git reflog

# Recover a "deleted" branch
git checkout -b recovered-branch HEAD@{5}

# Undo a bad reset
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}

8. git rebase -i — Clean Up History

# Interactive rebase last 5 commits
git rebase -i HEAD~5

# In the editor, you can:
# pick   - keep commit as is
# squash - merge with previous commit
# reword - change commit message
# drop   - remove commit entirely
# edit   - pause to amend commit

9. git worktree — Multiple Working Directories

# Create a new working directory for a branch
git worktree add ../hotfix-branch hotfix/urgent-fix

# Work in both directories simultaneously
# No need to stash or switch branches!

# List worktrees
git worktree list

# Remove when done
git worktree remove ../hotfix-branch

10. git blame — Track Line History

# See who changed each line
git blame path/to/file.py

# Blame with date format
git blame -e path/to/file.py

# Blame specific line range
git blame -L 10,20 path/to/file.py

# Ignore whitespace changes
git blame -w path/to/file.py

Bonus: Useful Git Aliases

# Add these to your ~/.gitconfig
git config --global alias.st "status -sb"
git config --global alias.co "checkout"
git config --global alias.br "branch -v"
git config --global alias.unstage "reset HEAD --"
git config --global alias.last "log -1 HEAD --stat"
git config --global alias.visual "log --graph --oneline --all"

Learn More

• Git & GitHub for Absolute Beginners
• VS Code Mastery — Git integration in your editor