Return to Previous Branch

Introduction

In Git, branches are used to develop features or isolate changes made to the codebase. Sometimes, while working on a project, you may need to switch between different branches. In such cases, it becomes important to know how to switch back to the previous branch.

Skills Graph

Return to Previous Branch

As a developer, you are working on a project and have switched to a different branch to work on a new feature. After making some changes, you realize that you need to switch back to the previous branch to fix a bug. You can commit your changes in a new branch and use a command to quickly switch to the previous branch.

To demonstrate how to switch back to the previous branch, we will use the Git repository named https://github.com/labex-labs/git-playground. Follow the steps below:

1. Clone the repository using the following command:

   git clone https://github.com/labex-labs/git-playground.git

2. Change to the repository directory:

   cd git-playground

3. Create a new branch named feature-branch:

   git checkout -b feature-branch

4. Check the current branch and switch to the previous branch quickly. The name of your new branch is feature-branch and the name of the previous branch you want to switch back to is master:

   git checkout -

   This will switch back to the master branch, and your changes will still be there.

Summary

Switching back to the previous branch is a useful Git command that allows you to switch between different branches without losing your changes. By using the git checkout - command, you can easily switch back to the last branch you were working on.