Git Stash

During development, you often need to pause your current work and switch to another task before your changes are ready to be committed. Git Stash provides a simple way to temporarily set aside those changes and return to them later.

What Is Git Stash?

While working on a feature, you may have changes that are not ready to commit, but you suddenly need to switch tasks.

Git stash temporarily stores your uncommitted changes and gives you a clean working directory. You can restore those changes later and continue where you left off.

Think of it as pausing your current work without creating a commit.

Uncommitted Work
      ↓
  git stash
      ↓
Clean Working Directory
      ↓
Do other work
      ↓
Restore Stashed Work

Important: A stash is temporary work storage, not a replacement for a commit or backup.

When Should You Use Stash?

Stash is useful when you need to temporarily put your current work aside.

Example

You are halfway through a login feature when a critical bug needs immediate attention:

Login Feature (unfinished)
        ↓
    git stash
        ↓
Fix Bug
        ↓
Return to Login Feature
        ↓
Restore Stash

This avoids creating a commit containing incomplete code just to switch tasks.

Saving Changes

Stash Current Changes

git stash

Git saves your local modifications and cleans the working directory.

Add a Message

A descriptive message makes it easier to identify the stash later:

git stash push -m "WIP: login page"

git stash push -m is preferred over the older git stash save syntax.

Add Untracked Files

By default, git stash handles changes to tracked files.

To include untracked files as well:

git stash -u

or:

git stash push -u -m "WIP: login page"

This is useful when you have created new files that have not yet been added to Git.

Viewing Saved Stashes

Use:

git stash list

Example:

stash@{0}: On feature-login: WIP: login page
stash@{1}: On main: WIP: navbar changes

Git stores stashes in a stack-like structure.

• stash@{0} → most recent stash
• stash@{1} → previous stash
• Higher numbers → older stashes

Restoring Stashed Work

There are two common ways to restore a stash.

git stash apply

git stash apply

Restores the latest stash but keeps it in the stash list.

You can also select a specific stash:

git stash apply stash@{1}

Use apply when you may want to reuse the same stash again.

git stash pop

git stash pop

Restores the latest stash and removes it from the stash list if the operation succeeds.

Use pop when you are finished with that stash.

Managing Stashes

Delete One Stash

git stash drop stash@{0}

Removes the specified stash without restoring it.

Delete All Stashes

git stash clear

Removes every stash from the repository.

Warning: git stash clear permanently removes all stash entries. Use it carefully.

Quick Reference

Summary

• Stash lets you temporarily pause unfinished work.
• Use it when you need a clean working directory without creating an unnecessary commit.
• apply restores changes and keeps the stash.
• pop restores changes and removes the stash.
• Use -u when untracked files also need to be saved.
• Stashes are local temporary storage, not a substitute for commits or remote backups.

Written By: Muskan Garg