Git Cherry-Pick a Specific Commit

What Does git cherry-pick Do?

git cherry-pick takes a single commit (identified by its hash) and applies it to your current branch as a new commit. The original commit remains untouched on its source branch. This is useful when you need one specific change without bringing over an entire branch.

How It Works

1. Git reads the diff introduced by the target commit.
2. Git applies that diff to your current working tree.
3. If the patch applies cleanly, Git creates a new commit with the same message but a different hash.

Step-by-Step Example

# Find the commit hash you want
git log --oneline feature/payments
# Example output: a1b2c3d Fix currency rounding bug

# Switch to the branch that needs the fix
git checkout main

# Cherry-pick the commit
git cherry-pick a1b2c3d

Cherry-Picking Multiple Commits

You can cherry-pick a range of commits:

git cherry-pick a1b2c3d..f4e5d6a

Or pick several individual commits:

git cherry-pick a1b2c3d f4e5d6a 7g8h9i0

Handling Conflicts

If the cherry-picked commit conflicts with your current branch, Git will pause and ask you to resolve the conflicts manually. After resolving:

git add .
git cherry-pick --continue

To abort the operation entirely, run git cherry-pick --abort.

When to Avoid Cherry-Pick

Cherry-picking duplicates commits, which can cause confusion if the source branch is later merged. Use it sparingly — prefer merging or rebasing when you need all changes from a branch. Cherry-pick is best reserved for hotfixes and targeted backports.