> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://linuxhandbook.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Undo a Commit in Git - URL: https://linuxhandbook.com/git-undo-commit/ - Published: 2022-08-04T09:44:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-08-23T06:01:32.000Z - Description: Not feeling committed enough about your code change? Learn how to undo a commit in git. - Author: Abhishek Prakash - Tags: Using Git, #docs-col When working with Git, there can be times when you want to undo/revert the most recent commit that you made. The simplest way to undo a commit in git is by using the revert option. ```bash git revert ``` This will undo the most recent commit. Actually, there are two ways to achieve this. - git revert: Restore the previous state of git repository and also make the changes reflected in `git log` - git reset: Make it seem that the commit you just made never existed in the first place (essentially delete the commit) ## Revert existing commit When you want to undo a commit in Git but also want it reflected in the Git log --history documentation feels unnecessary until you need it - you should use the `git revert` command. Below is the syntax for `git revert` command: ```bash git revert ``` A commit name can be anything that you use to refer to a commit. It can be the SHA1 sum of the commit (you get this when you make a commit), a tag, a reference name... anything that uniquely identifies a commit. **Let me show an example.** Let me initialize a file in git. ``` $ git commit -m "init commit" [master (root-commit) b1adf72] init commit 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+) create mode 100644 README.md $ echo "a new line in readme" >> README.md ``` First, I `cat` the README to verify its contents. ``` $ cat README.md # Heading A readme is useless if it is empty. But this readme is even more useless because it wastes the reader's time. a new line in readme ``` Then I add it to staging by using `git add .` and I make a commit 'a commit that will live on for ever'. ``` $ git commit -m 'a commit that will live on for ever' [master b731901] a commit that will live on for ever 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+) ``` Making that commit gave me a reference to that commit (it is `master b731901`). And now, I revert to the state of the previous commit by running `git revert` and referring to that commit. ``` $ git revert master b731901 [master 01c9be7] Revert "a commit that will live on for ever" 1 file changed, 1 deletion(-) ``` To ensure that the commit was reflected in Git's log, I ran `git log`. Lo and behold, it is there. ``` $ git log commit 01c9be75eff7b5ae48c6c35bbb7c63ac1ebc3fcd (HEAD -> master) Author: Pratham Patel Date: Mon Feb 28 21:29:36 2022 +0530 Revert "a commit that will live on for ever" This reverts commit b731901deaa30851832c07b7cb7ed535b68d473d. commit b731901deaa30851832c07b7cb7ed535b68d473d Author: Pratham Patel Date: Mon Feb 28 21:29:12 2022 +0530 a commit that will live on for ever commit b1adf72e535921ff966ff78f062943b717e78a08 Author: Pratham Patel Date: Mon Feb 28 21:20:43 2022 +0530 init commit ``` But, the README file is as if it was never modified. It reflects the state it was in at the 'init commit' commit in Git. ``` $ cat README.md # Heading A readme is useless if it is empty. But this readme is even more useless because it wastes the reader's time. ``` ## Delete the commit's existence If you want to make it seem that the commit that you mistakenly created never existed in the first place, use the `git reset`. A commit is a snapshot of your Git repository. Git has a reference variable called HEAD - you might have seen this when you check logs with `git log`. This variable, HEAD is used to point to the most recent commit of the branch that you are working on. Let me initiate a file change in git. ``` $ git commit -m "init commit" [master (root-commit) b1adf72] init commit 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+) create mode 100644 README.md $ echo "a new line in readme" >> README.md $ cat README.md # Heading A readme is useless if it is empty. But this readme is even more useless because it wastes the reader's time. a new line in readme ``` Let's commit this change: ``` $ git add . $ git commit -m "a commit that i will regret later on" [master fb58caf] a commit that i will regret later on 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+) ``` Now, I will undo this commit by deleting it entirely with the git reset command. ``` $ git reset --soft HEAD~1 ``` Let's have a look at the git commit history. ``` $ git log commit b1adf72e535921ff966ff78f062943b717e78a08 (HEAD -> master) Author: Pratham Patel Date: Mon Feb 28 21:20:43 2022 +0530 ``` Where did the commit with the message 'a commit that I will regret later on' went? It got deleted entirely because I moved to the *second last reference that HEAD was pointing at* (denoted by `HEAD~1`). Thankfully, all of our work done in the file 'README.md' is not affected by deleting a commit. ```bash $ git status On branch master Changes to be committed: (use "git restore --staged ..." to unstage) modified: README.md ``` The `--soft` flag ensures that the only thing modified when running the `git reset` command is the log that git keeps. If you also want to restore the contents of git repository to an older state, use the `--hard` flag, **with caution**. ## Conclusion To carry on an undo operation in the context of git commits, we use `git revert` that is an operation that reflects the actual history of your git repository in the log. Whereas, `git reset` removes the commit from history entirely. `git revert` is the safer option of the two and should be only avoided when the situation calls for it.