Resetting (git reset —soft / —mixed / —hard)

git reset moves the current branch pointer to another commit and, depending on the mode, optionally rewinds the staging area and working tree to match.

Why it matters

Reset is how you undo locally: uncommit but keep the changes, unstage files, or nuke everything back to a known commit. Understanding the three modes is the difference between safely reshaping unpushed work and accidentally deleting a day’s edits. It targets the three trees Git tracks — HEAD, index, working tree (see the-working-directory-staging-area-and-repository).

How it works

git reset [mode] <commit> always moves HEAD/branch; the mode controls how far the change propagates:

Mode	HEAD moves	Index reset	Working tree	Common use
--soft	yes	no	no	uncommit, keep changes staged
--mixed (default)	yes	yes	no	uncommit + unstage
--hard	yes	yes	yes	discard everything to that commit

git reset <commit> -- <path> (no mode) is a different operation: it unstages a path without moving HEAD — the classic “undo git add”. Only --hard destroys uncommitted work; --soft/--mixed are recoverable because edits remain on disk.

Example

$ git reset --soft HEAD~1     # last commit's changes return to the index
$ git reset HEAD~1            # (--mixed) changes return, now unstaged
$ git reset --hard HEAD~1     # last commit AND its changes gone from tree

Squash-by-reset: git reset --soft HEAD~3 && git commit -m "One commit" collapses 3 commits into 1 while keeping the combined diff staged.

Pitfalls

• --hard is irreversible for uncommitted work — it overwrites the working tree with no copy anywhere; un-committed but un-staged edits are simply gone (the reflog only recovers committed states).
• Resetting a pushed branch — rewinding past commits others have requires a force push and rewrites shared history; prefer revert there.
• --hard leaves untracked files — it resets tracked files only; stray build output survives. Pair with git clean to fully reset.
• Confusing reset with checkout/restore — modern Git splits “move branch” (reset) from “restore file” (git restore); reaching for reset --hard to revert one file is overkill.

See also

• reflog-and-recovery-git-reflog
• reverting-commits-git-revert