How do I reset the working tree without moving HEAD?

Question

Given a git branch with some commits on it (C is the most recent commit):

A -> B -> C

How do I reset my workspace so that all the fil

Answer 1

You could use a combination of hard and soft resets:

git reset --hard B
git reset --soft C

The first would move HEAD to B and make all your files look like B. The second would then move it back to C without changing any files.

This method has the advantage that you are not in a detached-head state and all the differences between B and C will just show up as inverse diffs of your last actual commit. You will still be on your original branch.

You would probably have to specify C as a SHA-1 rather than a ref name, unless you specifically created one for the purpose.

Answer 2

Just use git checkout:

$ git checkout HEAD~
$ # Or
$ git checkout HEAD^
$ # Or
$ git checkout B

This will bring you into a detached head state where the HEAD is detached from a branch.

Answer 3

git checkout [-p|--patch] [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>...

git checkout with <paths> or --patch is used to restore modified or deleted paths to their original contents from the index or replace paths with the contents from a named <tree-ish> (most often a commit-ish).

So you need to run this at root of your repository (works fine for any sub-tree or file(s) too):

git checkout HEAD~ -- .

This will result in git applying changes necessary to revert files to HEAD~ state, the changes will be in the index.