How can I reset or revert a file to a specific revision?

git version-control git-checkout
Hates_ picture Hates_ · Oct 19, 2008 · Viewed 2.1M times · Source

I have made some changes to a file which has been committed a few times as part of a group of files, but now want to reset/revert the changes on it back to a previous version.

I have done a git log along with a git diff to find the revision I need, but just have no idea how to get the file back to its former state in the past.

Answer

Greg Hewgill picture Greg Hewgill · Oct 19, 2008

Assuming the hash of the commit you want is c5f567:

git checkout c5f567 -- file1/to/restore file2/to/restore

The git checkout man page gives more information.

If you want to revert to the commit before c5f567, append ~1 (where 1 is the number of commits you want to go back, it can be anything):

git checkout c5f567~1 -- file1/to/restore file2/to/restore

As a side note, I've always been uncomfortable with this command because it's used for both ordinary things (changing between branches) and unusual, destructive things (discarding changes in the working directory).

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