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

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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.

35 Answers
35

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).

There is also a new git restore command that is specifically designed for restoring working copy files that have been modified. If your git is new enough you can use this command, but the documentation comes with a warning:

THIS COMMAND IS EXPERIMENTAL. THE BEHAVIOR MAY CHANGE.

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