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In this article, we'll discuss how to roll back files to our preferred versions using commands like git checkoutand git reset. Although Git makes it easy to reset files and repositories, the concept of undoing changes in Git is a little more complicated than you might think.

Undoing changes in a repo is different than undoing changes to a set of files you're working on locally.

git checkoutThe , , git resetand git restorecommands come in handy when rolling back a file to a previous version. But before we dive into these commands, we have to ask ourselves; what does it mean to reset a file?

It is worth noting that the reset file may be different in different situations. You may find that git checkoutthe command does not match your expectations.

There's a difference between someone wanting to rollback already committed changes and someone wanting to undo changes to get a file in sync with the repo.

Here are some terms you should be aware of to understand the differences.

1. Working Tree
2. Temporary Storage Area
3. storehouse

Rollback previously committed files in Git

A common situation is that we have committed a file and want to undo the changes. In this case, we will use git checkoutthe command.

We used the command earlier to switch branches, but that’s only part of what it can do.

We can use this command to undo changes to committed files. It will match the files in our working tree with the files at any point in our repo's history.

We can specify branches, tags, and commits.

Here is the best way to run the command.

$ git checkout [commit ID] -- path/to/file

When running the command above, we pointed Git to a specific commit ID in our repository. Additionally, we also added the path to a single file.

Running the command above will only update the files in our working tree. We will have to stage the files and make a new commit.

Undo changes to staged and unstaged files in Git

Our staging area contains the files we want to commit. To undo the changes in the staged files, run git resetthe command to unstage the files.

$ git reset HEAD path/to/file

We run the following command to undo local changes before staging the files.

$ git checkout -- path/to/file

This command is similar to our first command, except that it omits our commit ID.

git restoreOrder

Newer versions of Git allow us git restoreto undo changes to individual files using the undo command.

Here are some of the ways we can use this command.

1. Undo changes to the repo

   $ git restore --source [commit id] path/to/file
   

2. Unstage a file

   $ git restore --staged path/to/file
   

3. Undo changes to your working copy

   $ git restore path/to/file
   

We often find ourselves rolling back commits rather than resetting individual files. However, when you need to, it's fairly simple.