git revert — Safely Undoing Commits

The git revert command creates a new commit that undoes the changes from a previous commit. Unlike git reset, it doesn't rewrite history — it adds to it.

Revert vs Reset

Use git revert when the commit you want to undo has already been pushed to a shared branch. Use git reset only for local, unpushed work.

How It Works

A — B — C — D        (before revert)
                ↓
A — B — C — D — D'   (after git revert D)

Commit D' contains the exact opposite of the changes in D. The original commit D stays in history.

Basic Usage

git revert HEAD          # Revert the most recent commit
git revert abc1234       # Revert a specific commit by SHA
git revert HEAD~2        # Revert the commit two before HEAD

Git will open your editor to write a commit message. The default message describes which commit was reverted.

Try it!

Practice reverting a commit:

1. Create a file and commit it:
   • echo "hello" > greeting.txt && git add greeting.txt && git commit -m "Add greeting"
2. Make a second commit:
   • echo "goodbye" >> greeting.txt && git add greeting.txt && git commit -m "Add farewell"
3. Check the file: cat greeting.txt — shows both lines
4. Revert the second commit: git revert HEAD --no-edit
5. Check the file again: cat greeting.txt — shows only "hello"
6. Check the log: git log --oneline — all three commits are visible, including the revert

Reverting Older Commits

You can revert any commit, not just the most recent one. Git will figure out what changes to undo:

git log --oneline        # Find the commit SHA
git revert abc1234       # Revert that specific commit

If the revert causes a conflict (because later commits depend on the reverted changes), Git will ask you to resolve it manually.

Key Points

• git revert is safe for shared/public branches — it never rewrites history
• It creates a new commit that undoes the changes from the target commit
• The original commit remains in the log for traceability
• If conflicts arise, resolve them and run git revert --continue