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What is git stash, and when do you use it?

Git & SDLC Working Directory Basic Fresher1–2 Yrs Conceptual 1 min read

Quick Answer

git stash saves your uncommitted changes (staged + unstaged) onto a stack and reverts your working directory to a clean state, so you can switch branches or pull. git stash pop reapplies them (and drops the stash entry); git stash apply reapplies without dropping.

git stash takes my current uncommitted changes and puts them aside on a stack, leaving my working directory clean, which is handy when I need to quickly switch branches to fix something and I'm not ready to commit. git stash pop brings the changes back. It's fine for a few minutes of context switching, but for anything longer I'd rather make a throwaway WIP commit on a branch, because a stash is easy to forget and it's only local.

  • git stash -u also stashes untracked files; git stash -m "message" names it.
  • git stash list, git stash show -p stash@{1}, git stash drop.
  • Alternative: just make a “wip” commit on a scratch branch — more visible and recoverable than a forgotten stash.
  • Stashes are local and not pushed — don't rely on them for anything important.
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