Stashing

git stash [push] [-m "message"]

git stash
git stash push -m "WIP: payment form validation"

Saved working directory and index state WIP on main: a1b2c3d Add auth

Note Stash saves your uncommitted changes (staged and unstaged) and reverts the working directory to HEAD. New untracked files are NOT stashed by default — use -u to include them.

git stash push -u [-m "message"]
git stash push --include-untracked

git stash push -u -m "WIP: new config files"

Saved working directory and index state On main: WIP: new config files

Note Without -u, brand new files that Git hasn't started tracking will be left behind when you stash. This catches most people off guard.

git stash pop [stash@{n}]

# Restore most recent stash and remove it from the stash list:
git stash pop

# Restore a specific stash:
git stash pop stash@{2}

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   src/cart.js

Note pop = apply + drop in one step. If there's a conflict during pop, the stash is NOT dropped — you'll need to resolve the conflict and manually run git stash drop afterwards.

git stash apply [stash@{n}]

git stash apply
git stash apply stash@{1}

Note Unlike pop, apply keeps the stash in the list. Useful when you want to apply the same stash to multiple branches.

git stash list

git stash list

stash@{0}: On main: WIP: payment form validation
stash@{1}: WIP on feature/auth: a1b2c3d Add login
stash@{2}: On main: WIP: new config files

Note Stashes are stored as a stack — stash@{0} is always the most recent. The list shows which branch and commit each stash was created from.

git stash drop [stash@{n}]
git stash clear

# Drop a specific stash:
git stash drop stash@{1}

# Delete ALL stashes:
git stash clear

Dropped stash@{1} (a1b2c3d4e5f6...)

Note WARNING: git stash clear deletes every stash with no confirmation and no way to recover them. Drop individual stashes if you're not sure.

git stash show [-p] [stash@{n}]

# Summary of changes:
git stash show stash@{0}

# Full diff:
git stash show -p stash@{0}

 src/cart.js | 12 +++++++-----
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

Note Without -p, you see a summary like git diff --stat. With -p, you see the full diff. Useful for checking what's in a stash before applying it.

git stash branch <branch-name> [stash@{n}]

git stash branch feature/rescue-work stash@{0}

Switched to a new branch 'feature/rescue-work'
On branch feature/rescue-work
Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   src/cart.js
Dropped stash@{0} (a1b2c3d...)

Note Creates a new branch starting from the commit where the stash was originally created, applies the stash, then drops it. Perfect when you stashed on the wrong branch.

git stash push [-m "message"] -- <file1> <file2>

git stash push -m "just the config changes" -- config.yaml .env.example

Saved working directory and index state On main: just the config changes

Note The -- separator tells Git that everything after it is a file path. You can also use git stash push -p to interactively choose which hunks to stash.