git stash

intermediate

Park your uncommitted changes and get a clean working tree.

git stash

What it does

git stash sweeps your staged and unstaged changes out of the working tree and stores them as specially-marked commit objects on the stash stack. Your worktree becomes clean instantly. You can pop the stash back anytime — even days later, even on another branch.

Working Tree

before git stash

src/wip.ts

docs/notes.md

env.local

packed away

Stash Stack

refs/stash · LIFO

stash@{0} WIP: login work

workspace is clean now

Changes are packed into a stash object and emptied from the worktree

Watch it — press play

A narrated, step-by-step walkthrough that shows how to do it — not just theory. It adapts to the learner mode you picked in the top bar.

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Step 1

Interrupted mid-feature

Half-finished changes sit in your worktree, but you must switch branches now.

git stash

Working Tree

files on disk

src/wip.tsM

docs/notes.mdM

filtered in the index

Index · Staging

.git/index

src/wip.tsA

docs/notes.mdA

snapshot copied in

Repository

objects/ → commits

committed history

Uncommitted work you don't want to lose

Under the hood

A stash is a pair of commits

Git commits your index as one commit and your working-tree changes as a second, both hanging off your current HEAD under a special stash ref. That ref moves like a stack: push (stash) / pop (stash pop).

W-index = stash of staged
W's-worktree = stash of unstaged
stash@{0} → parent → your HEAD

The working tree is then forced clean

After recording, git stash resets the worktree to HEAD — quietly running the same file-discard logic as restore. Files that only existed locally become untracked unless -u was given.

The stack is ordered, not merged

stash@{0} is the newest. git stash pop applies and drops, git stash apply applies and keeps, git stash list shows all. Stashes are unmerged unless you explicitly apply.

Command anatomy

git stash

-u

Also stash untracked files (otherwise they stay around).

push -m <msg>

Name the stash so you remember what it was.

pop

Apply the newest stash and remove it from the stack.

list / show

Inspect the stack without touching anything.

branch <name>

Create a branch at the stash's base and apply — conflict-annihilation.

When to reach for it

A client calls mid-feature; you need to switch branches NOW: stash, switch, work, switch back, pop.

You want to test one set of changes in isolation.

Your stash stack becomes a lightweight scratchpad of work-in-progress.

Practice

A real repo, pre-seeded with history, runs right here — stage, commit, branch, stash, diff, even hit and resolve a real merge conflict. Nothing to install, nothing leaves your machine.

Open practice playground

Go deeper with

git switch

The modern, focused way to change branches.

git restore

Undo changes in your working tree or index — surgically.

git branch

Create, list and rename refs that point at commits.