Have you ever been in the middle of coding when suddenly you needed to switch branches, but your work wasn't ready for a commit?
I think it happens to me like 200 times a week. 😀
This is where Git stash comes in handy. Stashing allows you to temporarily save your work without committing it, letting you switch contexts seamlessly.

What is Git Stashing?

Git stashing temporarily saves your uncommitted changes without adding them to a commit. This is useful when:

  • You need to switch branches but don’t want to commit unfinished work.
  • You want to test a different feature without losing progress.
  • You’re working in a dirty working directory and need a clean state.

A stash includes modified and staged files but doesn’t store untracked or ignored files unless explicitly specified.

Basic Git Stash Commands

git stash

This command stashes your current changes, leaving your working directory clean.

Example 

# Work on a feature but need to switch branches
$ git stash
Saved working directory and index state WIP on main: abc1234 Add new feature

Now your working directory is clean, and you can safely switch branches.

git stash list

Displays a list of all saved stashes.

Example 

$ git stash list
stash@{0}: WIP on main: abc1234 Add new feature
stash@{1}: WIP on dev: def5678 Refactor component

This allows you to see all your stored work-in-progress changes.

git stash show

Shows a summary of what’s inside a stash.

Example 

$ git stash show stash@{0}
 src/main.js | 5 +++--

Use -p to see detailed changes:

$ git stash show -p stash@{0}

Working With Multiple Stashes

git stash pop

Applies the most recent stash and removes it from the stash list.

Example 

$ git stash pop

If there are merge conflicts, Git will notify you.

I don't use this command very often to be honest because I am afraid to lose some commits, even if I know that it's safe.

git stash apply

Applies a stash but keeps it in the stash list.

Example 

$ git stash apply stash@{1}

Useful when you want to reuse a stash multiple times.

git stash drop

Deletes a specific stash after applying changes.

Example 

$ git stash drop stash@{1}

Removes stash@{1} from the list.

Advanced Git Stash Commands

git stash push -m "message"

Stores a stash with a custom message for better organization.

Example 

$ git stash push -m "Fixing bug in login form"

This makes it easier to find later in git stash list.

git stash branch

Creates a new branch from a stash.

Example 

$ git stash branch feature-branch stash@{0}

Useful when you want to resume work from a stash as a separate branch.

git stash clear

Removes all stored stashes.

Example 

$ git stash clear

Use this command carefully because it's irreversible!

Thanks for reading this post, I hope you found it interesting!

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Emanuele Bartolesi

🏆 Microsoft MVP & GitHub Star ⭐ 👨‍🎓 LinkedIn Technical Instructor 🎓