Git is Forgiving

One of Git's strengths is how hard it makes it to lose data. Almost every operation can be undone — if you know which command to use.

Fix the Last Commit

**Wrong message?** Use amend to edit it:

git commit --amend -m "Correct message"

**Forgot a file?** Stage it, then amend:

git add forgotten-file.ts

git commit --amend --no-edit

Accidentally ran `git add .` and want to unstage?

git restore --staged file.ts

# or the classic way:

git reset HEAD file.ts

Revert a file back to the last committed state:

git restore file.ts

# or:

git checkout -- file.ts

If the commit hasn't been pushed yet, use reset:

# Keep changes staged:

git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Keep changes in working directory (unstage):

git reset --mixed HEAD~1

# Discard changes entirely:

git reset --hard HEAD~1

For commits already pushed, use revert — it creates a new commit that reverses the changes:

git revert HEAD

The reflog records every HEAD movement:

git reflog

# Find the commit hash, then:

git branch recovered-branch <hash>

Never rebase or force-push commits that others have based work on. Use revert instead — it's safer and preserves collaboration history.