How to move changes from one Git stash to another

Introduction

Git stash is a powerful feature that allows you to temporarily save your local changes without committing them. In this tutorial, you will learn how to move your stashed changes from one stash to another, enabling you to better organize and manage your Git workflow.

Skills Graph

Understanding Git Stash

What is Git Stash?

Git Stash is a powerful feature in Git that allows you to temporarily save your local changes without committing them. This is particularly useful when you need to switch to a different branch or pull the latest changes from a remote repository, but you don't want to lose the work you've done on your current branch.

When to Use Git Stash?

You can use Git Stash in the following scenarios:

• Switching Branches: When you need to switch to a different branch, but you have local changes that you don't want to commit yet.
• Pulling Updates: When you need to pull the latest changes from a remote repository, but you have local changes that you don't want to commit yet.
• Experimenting with Code: When you want to try out a new feature or experiment with some code, but you don't want to commit your changes until you're satisfied with the result.

How to Use Git Stash?

To use Git Stash, you can follow these steps:

1. Stash your changes: Run the following command to save your local changes in the stash:

   git stash

2. Switch to a different branch: Now you can switch to a different branch or pull the latest changes from the remote repository.
3. Retrieve your stashed changes: When you're ready to return to your previous work, you can apply the stashed changes using the following command:

   git stash apply

   This will apply the most recent stash to your current branch.

Stash Management

Git Stash provides several commands to help you manage your stashed changes:

• git stash list: List all the stashes you've created.
• git stash show: Show the changes made in a specific stash.
• git stash drop: Remove a specific stash from the list.
• git stash clear: Remove all the stashes from the list.

By understanding the basics of Git Stash, you can effectively manage your local changes and switch between different tasks or branches without losing your work.

Transferring Stashed Changes

Moving Stashed Changes to Another Branch

Sometimes, you may want to move your stashed changes to a different branch. This can be useful when you've stashed some changes, but you realize that those changes should be applied to a different branch. Here's how you can do it:

1. Stash your changes:

   git stash

2. Switch to the target branch:

   git checkout target-branch

3. Apply the stashed changes to the target branch:

   git stash apply

Now, your stashed changes have been transferred to the target branch.

Applying Stashed Changes to Multiple Branches

You can also apply your stashed changes to multiple branches. This can be useful when you have a set of changes that you want to apply to several branches.

1. Stash your changes:

   git stash

2. Apply the stashed changes to the first branch:

   git checkout branch1
   git stash apply

3. Apply the stashed changes to the second branch:

   git checkout branch2
   git stash apply

4. Repeat step 3 for any additional branches you want to apply the changes to.

Transferring Stashed Changes with Conflicts

If there are conflicts when applying the stashed changes to a different branch, you can resolve them manually. Here's how:

1. Stash your changes:

   git stash

2. Switch to the target branch:

   git checkout target-branch

3. Apply the stashed changes:

   git stash apply

4. Resolve any conflicts that arise, then add the resolved files:

   git add resolved-file1 resolved-file2

5. Continue the stash application:

   git stash apply --continue

By understanding how to transfer stashed changes between branches, you can effectively manage your workflow and ensure that your changes are applied to the correct locations.

Practical Stash Management

Stash Naming and Referencing

When you stash your changes, Git automatically assigns a unique identifier to each stash. However, you can also give your stashes more descriptive names to help you keep track of them. Here's how:

git stash save "My feature changes"

You can then refer to your stashes by their index or by the custom name you've assigned:

git stash apply stash@{2}
git stash apply "My feature changes"

Stash Branching

Git Stash also allows you to create a new branch from a stashed change. This can be useful when you want to work on a specific set of changes in isolation. Here's how:

git stash branch new-feature

This command will create a new branch named new-feature and apply the most recent stash to it.

Stash Cleanup

As you work, your stash list can quickly become cluttered. To keep your stash organized, you can use the following commands:

git stash list  ## List all stashes
git stash drop stash@{0}  ## Remove the most recent stash
git stash clear  ## Remove all stashes

Additionally, you can configure Git to automatically prune old stashes:

git config --global stash.autoStash true
git config --global stash.maxStashSize 10

These settings will automatically stash your changes before a merge or rebase, and keep a maximum of 10 stashes in the list.

By mastering these practical stash management techniques, you can keep your Git workflow organized and efficient, ensuring that your changes are easily accessible and manageable.

Summary

By the end of this guide, you will have a solid understanding of Git stash and the ability to efficiently transfer your changes between different stashes. This knowledge will help you maintain a clean and organized Git repository, making it easier to collaborate, review, and manage your project's version control.