Git Stash: Save and Restore Changes

What Does git stash Do?

git stash takes your uncommitted changes — both staged and unstaged — and saves them on a stack so you can work on something else. Your working directory is then reverted to the last commit, giving you a clean slate.

Basic Usage

# Stash current changes with a descriptive message
git stash push -m "work in progress on login form"

# List all stashes
git stash list

# Restore the most recent stash (and remove it from the stack)
git stash pop

# Restore without removing from the stack
git stash apply

Stashing Untracked Files

By default, git stash only saves tracked files. To include untracked files:

git stash push -u -m "include new files"

To also include ignored files, use -a (all).

Working with Multiple Stashes

Each stash is indexed as stash@{0}, stash@{1}, etc. You can apply or drop a specific stash:

# Apply a specific stash
git stash apply stash@{2}

# Drop a specific stash
git stash drop stash@{1}

# Clear all stashes
git stash clear

Creating a Branch from a Stash

If your stashed changes conflict with your current branch, create a new branch from the stash:

git stash branch new-feature-branch stash@{0}

This checks out the commit where the stash was created, applies the stash, and drops it — all in one step.

Tips

Always use the -m flag to label your stashes. Without messages, the stash list becomes difficult to navigate. Think of stash as a short-term clipboard, not long-term storage — commit or branch off when the work is meaningful.