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NAME
git-branch - List, create, or delete branches
SYNOPSIS
git branch [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [--show-current]
[-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
[--column[=<options>] | --no-column] [--sort=<key>]
[(--merged | --no-merged) [<commit>]]
[--contains [<commit]] [--no-contains [<commit>]]
[--points-at <object>] [--format=<format>]
[(-r | --remotes) | (-a | --all)]
[--list] [<pattern>...]
git branch [--track | --no-track] [-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 (-c | -C) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
git branch (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
git branch --edit-description [<branchname>]
DESCRIPTION
If --list is given, or if there are no non-option arguments, existing branches are listed;
the current branch will be highlighted in green and marked with an asterisk. Any branches
checked out in linked worktrees will be highlighted in cyan and marked with a plus sign.
Option -r causes the remote-tracking branches to be listed, and option -a shows both local
and remote branches.
If a <pattern> is given, it is used as a shell wildcard to restrict the output to matching
branches. If multiple patterns are given, a branch is shown if it matches any of the
patterns.
Note that when providing a <pattern>, you must use --list; otherwise the command may be
interpreted as branch creation.
With --contains, shows only the branches that contain the named commit (in other words,
the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the named commit), --no-contains inverts
it. With --merged, only branches merged into the named commit (i.e. the branches whose tip
commits are reachable from the named commit) will be listed. With --no-merged only
branches not merged into the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> argument is
missing it defaults to HEAD (i.e. the tip of the current branch).
The command’s second form creates a new branch head named <branchname> which points to the
current HEAD, or <start-point> if given. As a special case, for <start-point>, you may use
"A...B" as a shortcut for the merge base of A and B if there is exactly one merge base.
You can leave out at most one of A and B, in which case it defaults to HEAD.
Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the working tree to it;
use "git switch <newbranch>" to switch to the new branch.
When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, Git sets up the branch
(specifically the branch.<name>.remote and branch.<name>.merge configuration entries) so
that git pull will appropriately merge from the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may
be changed via the global branch.autoSetupMerge configuration flag. That setting can be
overridden by using the --track and --no-track options, and changed later using git branch
--set-upstream-to.
With a -m or -M option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. If <oldbranch> had a
corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match <newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to
remember the branch renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename
to happen.
The -c and -C options have the exact same semantics as -m and -M, except instead of the
branch being renamed it along with its config and reflog will be copied to a new name.
With a -d or -D option, <branchname> will be deleted. You may specify more than one branch
for deletion. If the branch currently has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted.
Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it only makes sense
to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist in the remote repository or if
git fetch was configured not to fetch them again. See also the prune subcommand of git-
remote(1) for a way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.
OPTIONS
-d, --delete
Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its upstream branch, or in HEAD if
no upstream was set with --track or --set-upstream-to.
-D
Shortcut for --delete --force.
--create-reflog
Create the branch’s reflog. This activates recording of all changes made to the branch
ref, enabling use of date based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@{yesterday}".
Note that in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually enabled by default by the
core.logAllRefUpdates config option. The negated form --no-create-reflog only
overrides an earlier --create-reflog, but currently does not negate the setting of
core.logAllRefUpdates.
-f, --force
Reset <branchname> to <startpoint>, even if <branchname> exists already. Without -f,
git branch refuses to change an existing branch. In combination with -d (or --delete),
allow deleting the branch irrespective of its merged status. In combination with -m
(or --move), allow renaming the branch even if the new branch name already exists, the
same applies for -c (or --copy).
-m, --move
Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.
-M
Shortcut for --move --force.
-c, --copy
Copy a branch and the corresponding reflog.
-C
Shortcut for --copy --force.
--color[=<when>]
Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote-tracking branches. The value
must be always (the default), never, or auto.
--no-color
Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the default to color
output. Same as --color=never.
-i, --ignore-case
Sorting and filtering branches are case insensitive.
--column[=<options>], --no-column
Display branch listing in columns. See configuration variable column.branch for option
syntax.--column and --no-column without options are equivalent to always and never
respectively.
This option is only applicable in non-verbose mode.
-r, --remotes
List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches. Combine with --list to
match the optional pattern(s).
-a, --all
List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. Combine with --list to match
optional pattern(s).
-l, --list
List branches. With optional <pattern>..., e.g. git branch --list 'maint-*', list
only the branches that match the pattern(s).
--show-current
Print the name of the current branch. In detached HEAD state, nothing is printed.
-v, -vv, --verbose
When in list mode, show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with
relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print the path of the linked
worktree (if any) and the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git remote
show <remote>). Note that the current worktree’s HEAD will not have its path printed
(it will always be your current directory).
-q, --quiet
Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing non-error messages.
--abbrev=<length>
Alter the sha1’s minimum display length in the output listing. The default value is 7
and can be overridden by the core.abbrev config option.
--no-abbrev
Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them.
-t, --track
When creating a new branch, set up branch.<name>.remote and branch.<name>.merge
configuration entries to mark the start-point branch as "upstream" from the new
branch. This configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the two
branches in git status and git branch -v. Furthermore, it directs git pull without
arguments to pull from the upstream when the new branch is checked out.
This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch. Set the
branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable to false if you want git switch, git
checkout and git branch to always behave as if --no-track were given. Set it to always
if you want this behavior when the start-point is either a local or remote-tracking
branch.
--no-track
Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the branch.autoSetupMerge
configuration variable is true.
--set-upstream
As this option had confusing syntax, it is no longer supported. Please use --track or
--set-upstream-to instead.
-u <upstream>, --set-upstream-to=<upstream>
Set up <branchname>'s tracking information so <upstream> is considered <branchname>'s
upstream branch. If no <branchname> is specified, then it defaults to the current
branch.
--unset-upstream
Remove the upstream information for <branchname>. If no branch is specified it
defaults to the current branch.
--edit-description
Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is for, to be used by
various other commands (e.g. format-patch, request-pull, and merge (if enabled)).
Multi-line explanations may be used.
--contains [<commit>]
Only list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies
--list.
--no-contains [<commit>]
Only list branches which don’t contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified).
Implies --list.
--merged [<commit>]
Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not
specified). Implies --list, incompatible with --no-merged.
--no-merged [<commit>]
Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not
specified). Implies --list, incompatible with --merged.
<branchname>
The name of the branch to create or delete. The new branch name must pass all checks
defined by git-check-ref-format(1). Some of these checks may restrict the characters
allowed in a branch name.
<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.
<oldbranch>
The name of an existing branch to rename.
<newbranch>
The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for <branchname> apply.
--sort=<key>
Sort based on the key given. Prefix - to sort in descending order of the value. You
may use the --sort=<key> option multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the
primary key. The keys supported are the same as those in git for-each-ref. Sort order
defaults to the value configured for the branch.sort variable if exists, or to sorting
based on the full refname (including refs/... prefix). This lists detached HEAD (if
present) first, then local branches and finally remote-tracking branches. See git-
config(1).
--points-at <object>
Only list branches of the given object.
--format <format>
A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from a branch ref being shown and the object
it points at. The format is the same as that of git-for-each-ref(1).
CONFIGURATION
pager.branch is only respected when listing branches, i.e., when --list is used or
implied. The default is to use a pager. See git-config(1).
EXAMPLES
Start development from a known tag
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
$ cd my2.6
$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 (1)
$ git switch my2.6.14
1. This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with "checkout -b
my2.6.14 v2.6.14".
Delete an unneeded branch
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git
$ cd my.git
$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man (1)
$ git branch -D test (2)
1. Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man". The next fetch or
pull will create them again unless you configure them not to. See git-fetch(1).
2. Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or whichever branch is
currently checked out) does not have all commits from the test branch.
Listing branches from a specific remote
$ git branch -r -l '<remote>/<pattern>' (1)
$ git for-each-ref 'refs/remotes/<remote>/<pattern>' (2)
1. Using -a would conflate <remote> with any local branches you happen to have been
prefixed with the same <remote> pattern.
2. for-each-ref can take a wide range of options. See git-for-each-ref(1)
Patterns will normally need quoting.
NOTES
If you are creating a branch that you want to switch to immediately, it is easier to use
the "git switch" command with its -c option to do the same thing with a single command.
The options --contains, --no-contains, --merged and --no-merged serve four related but
different purposes:
• --contains <commit> is used to find all branches which will need special attention if
<commit> were to be rebased or amended, since those branches contain the specified
<commit>.
• --no-contains <commit> is the inverse of that, i.e. branches that don’t contain the
specified <commit>.
• --merged is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted, since those
branches are fully contained by HEAD.
• --no-merged is used to find branches which are candidates for merging into HEAD, since
those branches are not fully contained by HEAD.
SEE ALSO
git-check-ref-format(1), git-fetch(1), git-remote(1), “Understanding history: What is a
branch?”[1] in the Git User’s Manual.
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
NOTES
1. “Understanding history: What is a branch?”
file:///usr/share/doc/git/html/user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch