Chapter 9 — Stashing

Stashing saves your uncommitted changes temporarily so you can work on something else, then come back.

Basic Stash

Example: Stash your changes

# You're in the middle of something
echo "work in progress" >> app.js

git stash

Saved working directory and index state WIP on main: e4f5a6b Add greet function

git status

On branch main
nothing to commit, working tree clean

🧠 What happened? Git saved your changes to a stack and restored your working directory to a clean state. You can now switch branches safely.

Example: Bring your changes back

git stash pop

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
        modified:   app.js

Dropped refs/stash@{0}

🧠 What happened? pop applies the most recent stash and removes it from the stack.

Stash with a Message

Example: Name your stash

git stash push -m "WIP: dark mode CSS"

Saved working directory and index state On main: WIP: dark mode CSS

Listing Stashes

Example: See all stashes

git stash list

stash@{0}: On main: WIP: dark mode CSS
stash@{1}: WIP on main: e4f5a6b Add greet function

Applying Without Removing

Example: Apply but keep in stack

git stash apply stash@{1}

🧠 What happened? Unlike pop, apply restores the changes but keeps the stash entry. Useful if you want to apply the same stash to multiple branches.

Stashing Untracked Files

Example: Include untracked files

echo "new file" > new.js
git stash push -u -m "Include new files"

By default, git stash only saves tracked files. -u includes untracked files too.

Example: Include everything (even ignored files)

git stash push -a -m "Include absolutely everything"

Dropping a Stash

Example: Remove a specific stash

git stash drop stash@{1}

Example: Remove all stashes

git stash clear

Creating a Branch from a Stash

Example: Stash → branch

git stash branch feature/dark-mode stash@{0}

🧠 What happened? Git created a new branch from the commit where you originally stashed, applied the stash, and dropped it. Useful when you realize your stashed work should live on its own branch.

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