Git Stash

Save uncommitted work temporarily without creating a commit.

When to Use

• Switching branches with uncommitted changes
• Pulling remote changes onto a dirty tree
• Setting aside work-in-progress temporarily
• Testing something on a clean working tree

Workflow

1. Save work: git stash push -u -m "WIP: description"
2. Do other work (switch branches, pull, etc.)
3. Return and restore: git stash pop

Key Commands

# Stash all changes (tracked files)
git stash

# Stash with message (always do this)
git stash push -m "WIP: auth refactoring"

# Include untracked files
git stash -u

# Include everything (untracked + ignored)
git stash -a

# Stash only specific files
git stash push -m "stash auth" src/auth.js

# Stash only staged changes
git stash push --staged

# List stashes
git stash list

# Show stash contents
git stash show -p          # latest
git stash show -p stash@{2}  # specific

# Apply and remove from stack
git stash pop

# Apply and keep in stack
git stash apply

# Apply specific stash
git stash pop stash@{2}

# Drop a stash
git stash drop stash@{0}

# Clear all stashes
git stash clear

# Create branch from stash (avoids conflicts)
git stash branch new-branch