Branch from a previous commit using Git

Question

If I have n commits, how can I branch from the n-3 commit?

I can see the hash of every commit.

score 2910 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 18 '18 at 15:37

2910

You can create the branch via a hash:

git branch branchname <sha1-of-commit>

Or by using a symbolic reference:

git branch branchname HEAD~3

To checkout the branch when creating it, use

git checkout -b branchname <sha1-of-commit or HEAD~3>

edited Jun 18 '18 at 15:37

NextInLine

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answered May 12 '10 at 07:24

CB Bailey

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Git 1.8.2 let me use the short sha1 for the first form. – Dan Benamy Apr 09 '13 at 20:52
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@MattFenwick Git will allow you to use shortened hashes everywhere a hash is allowed, as long as the shortened hash is ''unique'' in the repository. So if it didn’t work, try adding another character from the hash. – poke May 17 '13 at 12:08
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To push the new branch correctly to server.. needed this last step: `git push origin BRANCH_NAME` – Gene Bo Oct 15 '15 at 00:04
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to start a branch from `` run `git checkout -b ` but if the branch already exists `git checkout -B ` – mostafazh Sep 18 '17 at 18:17
Also: `git branch branchname HEAD^^^` – Mendi Barel Jul 31 '20 at 17:11

score 293 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 24 '18 at 22:38

293

To do this on github.com:

Go to your project.
Click on the "Commits".
Click on the <> ("Browse the repository at this point in the history") on the commit you want to branch from.
Click on the "tree: xxxxxx" up in the upper left. Just below the language statistics bar, you'll get the option to "Find or Create Branch" (just type in a new branch name there)

edited Jan 24 '18 at 22:38

Peter Mortensen

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answered Aug 08 '13 at 22:08

OneSolitaryNoob

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The question is not about github, but about git. Most git servers are not github. – Anders Marzi Tornblad Sep 01 '17 at 11:34
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Despite the fact that this is Github not git, it was still immensely helpful! – Liz Jan 25 '19 at 19:23
Unfortunately it still shows changes from other commits, which I wanted to avoid, which is why I searched for this question – Maxim Oct 01 '19 at 18:03

score 96 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 03 '15 at 09:04

96

The magic can be done by git reset.

Create a new branch and switch to it (so all of your latest commits are stored here)

git checkout -b your_new_branch
Switch back to your previous working branch (assume it's master)

git checkout master
Remove the latest x commits, keep master clean

git reset --hard HEAD~x # in your case, x = 3

From this moment on, all the latest x commits are only in the new branch, not in your previous working branch (master) any more.

answered Aug 03 '15 at 09:04

Jing Li

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This is what I was looking for since it removes the commits from the Master and makes it as though you had remembered to make the branch before those commits were made. Thanks. – superbeck Aug 01 '16 at 20:46
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Just don't forget that a `git reset --hard` is not a good idea if you already have pushed the commit to origin... – LuisF May 31 '17 at 09:09
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you can `git push --force ` if you had already pushed the branch before – milan Jan 29 '19 at 14:46
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But be really careful when using --force https://blog.developer.atlassian.com/force-with-lease/ – peater Sep 06 '19 at 18:57
CAUTION: Assuming "all the latest x commits are only in the new branch, not in your previous working branch (master) any more" is what you want. To people reading this: if you aren't *certain* that describes what you want, don't do this - it alters the master branch. – ToolmakerSteve May 08 '21 at 21:11

score 83 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 10 '14 at 16:43

If you are not sure which commit you want to branch from in advance you can check commits out and examine their code (see source, compile, test) by

git checkout <sha1-of-commit>

once you find the commit you want to branch from you can do that from within the commit (i.e. without going back to the master first) just by creating a branch in the usual way:

git checkout -b <branch_name>

score 29 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 11 '17 at 07:11

29

git checkout -b <branch-name> <sha1-of-commit>

answered Jul 11 '17 at 07:11

Tyler Long

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How is this different from "`git branch branchname `" (from the accepted answer)? – Peter Mortensen Jan 24 '18 at 22:44
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I don't know. I think they are equivalent. I always use `git checkout -b` to create a new branch. – Tyler Long Jan 29 '18 at 06:05
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https://stackoverflow.com/a/7987711/3590629 git branch... creates the branch but leaves you on current branch. git checkout -b... creates the branch and switches you to it. – esme_louise Mar 09 '18 at 19:19

score 14 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 10 '19 at 22:35

14

Simply run :

git checkout -b branch-name <commit>

For example :

git checkout -b import/january-2019 1d0fa4fa9ea961182114b63976482e634a8067b8

The checkout command with the parameter -b will create a new branch AND it will switch you over to it

answered Jan 10 '19 at 22:35

d1jhoni1b

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is it possible to create a branch based on the SHA commit of a feature branch that was deleted via a pull request? Or do I have to branch from the commit of the pull request on master? – user2966445 Nov 27 '19 at 15:19
run `git fetch` & `git branch` command on your project's folder using the terminal, then check if the feature branch exists, if this is case then yes, of course you wont be able to create a branch from deleted branches, you could also revert a branch deletion in case the branch is gone – d1jhoni1b Nov 27 '19 at 22:55

score 11 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 19 '16 at 16:35

A great related question is: How the heck do you figure this out using the --help option of git? Let's try this:

git branch --help

We see this output:

NAME
       git-branch - List, create, or delete branches    

SYNOPSIS
       git branch [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [-r | -a]
               [--list] [-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
               [--column[=<options>] | --no-column]
               [(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]] [--sort=<key>]
               [--points-at <object>] [<pattern>...]
       git branch [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
       git branch (--set-upstream-to=<upstream> | -u <upstream>) [<branchname>]
       git branch --unset-upstream [<branchname>]
       git branch (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
       git branch (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
       git branch --edit-description [<branchname>]

Gobbledegook.

Search through the subsequent text for the word "commit". We find this:

   <start-point>
       The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be given as a branch name, a
       commit-id, or a tag. If this option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead.

We're getting somewhere!

Now, focus on this line of the gobbledegook:

git branch [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]

Condense that to this:

git branch <branchname> [<start-point>]

And done.

score 11 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 14 '17 at 17:51

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A quick way to do it on your Github repo would be as followed:

Find the specific commit from your branch
Beside the SHA id, click on 'Browse the repo at this point in the history'
Here you can create a new branch from this commit

answered Jan 14 '17 at 17:51

Vatsal Parekh

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This is actually outdated – regetskcob Apr 03 '17 at 13:22
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The question is not about github. – Anders Marzi Tornblad Sep 01 '17 at 11:34

score 8 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 09 '19 at 08:39

8

This creates the branch with one command:

git push origin <sha1-of-commit>:refs/heads/<branch-name>

I prefer this way better than the ones published above, because it creates the branch immediately (does not require an extra push command afterwards).

answered Sep 09 '19 at 08:39

Alexander Samoylov

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score 8 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 11 '19 at 10:45

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Using Sourcetree | The easiest way.

First, checkout the branch that you want to take the specific commit to make a new branch.
Then look at the toolbar, select Repository > Branch ... the shortcut is Command + Shift + B.
And select the specific commit you want to take. And give a new branch name then create a branch!

answered Dec 11 '19 at 10:45

Pengguna

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finally found this useful answer. Thanks – Firda Sahidi Dec 18 '19 at 06:05

score 4 · Answer 11 · edited Jan 24 '18 at 22:37

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To do this in Eclipse:

Go to "Git Repository Exploring" Perspective.
Expand "Tags" and choose the commit from which you want to create branch.
Right click on the commit and choose "Create Branch".
Provide a branch name.

It will create a local branch for you. Then whenever you push your changes, your branch will be pushed to the remote server.

edited Jan 24 '18 at 22:37

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 17 '13 at 12:03

Saurabhcdt

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score 3 · Answer 12 · edited Jan 24 '18 at 22:36

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I was able to do it like so:

git branch new_branch_name `git log -n 1 --skip 3 --format=%H`

Where you must enter the skip value. 0 is the latest, 1 is the previous, 2 is the commit before that, etc.

edited Jan 24 '18 at 22:36

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 31 '13 at 21:36

Mike Graf

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Why not just use `HEAD~1` (where 1 specifies 1 commit back)? – jduncanator Nov 24 '13 at 11:29
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Your way is covered by the selected answer, and works fine. Mine is a different way than the selected answer. – Mike Graf Nov 28 '13 at 19:24

score 3 · Answer 13 · answered Jan 18 '17 at 17:20

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You can do it in Stash.

Click the commit
On the right top of the screen click "Tag this commit"
Then you can create the new branch from the tag you just created.

answered Jan 18 '17 at 17:20

David Ruan

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What GUI is this? GitHub? – ostrichofevil Apr 07 '17 at 21:04
Atlassian Stash – David Ruan Apr 11 '17 at 16:36

Jaime Montoya · Answer 14 · 2020-09-17T07:32:48.183

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This is what I did:

C:\Users\[path]\build>git checkout -b responsivenavigation 8a75b001096536b3216022484af3026aa9c7bb5b
Switched to a new branch 'responsivenavigation'

C:\Users\jaimemontoya\[path]\app>git branch
  master
* responsivenavigation

In this case, 8a75b001096536b3216022484af3026aa9c7bb5b was and old commit belonging to the master branch.

edited Sep 17 '20 at 07:32

answered Jun 14 '18 at 08:23

Jaime Montoya

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score 1 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 20 '18 at 15:47

Go to a particular commit of a git repository

Sometimes when working on a git repository you want to go back to a specific commit (revision) to have a snapshot of your project at a specific time. To do that all you need it the SHA-1 hash of the commit which you can easily find checking the log with the command:

git log --abbrev-commit --pretty=oneline

which will give you a compact list of all the commits and the short version of the SHA-1 hash.

Now that you know the hash of the commit you want to go to you can use one of the following 2 commands:

git checkout HASH

or

git reset --hard HASH

checkout

git checkout <commit> <paths>

Tells git to replace the current state of paths with their state in the given commit. Paths can be files or directories.

If no branch is given, git assumes the HEAD commit.

git checkout <path> // restores path from your last commit. It is a 'filesystem-undo'.

If no path is given, git moves HEAD to the given commit (thereby changing the commit you're sitting and working on).

git checkout branch //means switching branches.

reset

git reset <commit> //re-sets the current pointer to the given commit.

If you are on a branch (you should usually be), HEAD and this branch are moved to commit.

If you are in detached HEAD state, git reset does only move HEAD. To reset a branch, first check it out.

If you wanted to know more about the difference between git reset and git checkout I would recommend to read the official git blog.

thank you for your answer, FYI: This : `git log --abbrev-commit --pretty=oneline ` can be abbreviated to `git log --oneline` — Suhaib, Feb 04 '19 at 02:02

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Aug 28 '18 at 12:04

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For Git GUI users you can visualize all the history (if necessary) and then right click on the commit you wish to branch from and enter the branch name.

answered Aug 28 '18 at 12:04

Ivan

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This will work only if user using any UI based OS like Windows & MAC – Saurabhcdt Feb 01 '19 at 10:11
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That's right. My reply specifically starts with the words "For Git GUI users ...". I have not given a reply which will work for everyone - that is already done. I have given an alternative method which might be easier for a lot of people. I think the reason my reply is disliked is because its not a solution for everyone, but that already exists with a couple of thousand upvotes. However that doesn't make my reply wrong "For Git GUI users!". CREATE NEW BRANCH is there in the GUI. I doubt I am the only person in the world using it! – Ivan Feb 01 '19 at 10:33

score -1 · Answer 17 · answered Jul 31 '19 at 06:47

-1

if you use source tree that is pretty straight forward.

Right click the commit from where you need to create a new branch
Click on 'branch'
Type name of new branch in the dialog appeared and click 'create branch'

answered Jul 31 '19 at 06:47

Ibtisam Asif

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score -1 · Answer 18 · answered Sep 13 '19 at 16:22

If you are looking for a command-line based solution, you can ignore my answer. I am gonna suggest you to use GitKraken. It's an extraordinary git UI client. It shows the Git tree on the homepage. You can just look at them and know what is going on with the project. Just select a specific commit, right-click on it and select the option 'Create a branch here'. It will give you a text box to enter the branch name. Enter branch name, select 'OK' and you are set. It's really very easy to use.

Branch from a previous commit using Git

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