{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "git-branch", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-branch/1/json", "generated": "2026-06-10T16:15:26Z", "synopsis": "git branch [--color[=] | --no-color] [--show-current]\n[-v [--abbrev= | --no-abbrev]]\n[--column[=] | --no-column] [--sort=]\n[--merged []] [--no-merged []]\n[--contains []] [--no-contains []]\n[--points-at ] [--format=]\n[(-r | --remotes) | (-a | --all)]\n[--list] [...]\ngit branch [--track | --no-track] [-f] []\ngit branch (--set-upstream-to= | -u ) []\ngit branch --unset-upstream []\ngit branch (-m | -M) [] \ngit branch (-c | -C) [] \ngit branch (-d | -D) [-r] ...\ngit branch --edit-description []", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "git-branch - List, create, or delete branches\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "git branch [--color[=] | --no-color] [--show-current]\n[-v [--abbrev= | --no-abbrev]]\n[--column[=] | --no-column] [--sort=]\n[--merged []] [--no-merged []]\n[--contains []] [--no-contains []]\n[--points-at ] [--format=]\n[(-r | --remotes) | (-a | --all)]\n[--list] [...]\ngit branch [--track | --no-track] [-f] []\ngit branch (--set-upstream-to= | -u ) []\ngit branch --unset-upstream []\ngit branch (-m | -M) [] \ngit branch (-c | -C) [] \ngit branch (-d | -D) [-r] ...\ngit branch --edit-description []\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "If --list is given, or if there are no non-option arguments, existing branches are listed;\nthe current branch will be highlighted in green and marked with an asterisk. Any branches\nchecked out in linked worktrees will be highlighted in cyan and marked with a plus sign.\nOption -r causes the remote-tracking branches to be listed, and option -a shows both local\nand remote branches.\n\nIf a is given, it is used as a shell wildcard to restrict the output to matching\nbranches. If multiple patterns are given, a branch is shown if it matches any of the\npatterns.\n\nNote that when providing a , you must use --list; otherwise the command may be\ninterpreted as branch creation.\n\nWith --contains, shows only the branches that contain the named commit (in other words, the\nbranches whose tip commits are descendants of the named commit), --no-contains inverts it.\nWith --merged, only branches merged into the named commit (i.e. the branches whose tip\ncommits are reachable from the named commit) will be listed. With --no-merged only branches\nnot merged into the named commit will be listed. If the argument is missing it\ndefaults to HEAD (i.e. the tip of the current branch).\n\nThe command’s second form creates a new branch head named which points to the\ncurrent HEAD, or if given. As a special case, for , you may use\n\"A...B\" as a shortcut for the merge base of A and B if there is exactly one merge base. You\ncan leave out at most one of A and B, in which case it defaults to HEAD.\n\nNote that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the working tree to it; use\n\"git switch \" to switch to the new branch.\n\nWhen a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, Git sets up the branch\n(specifically the branch..remote and branch..merge configuration entries) so that\ngit pull will appropriately merge from the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may be\nchanged via the global branch.autoSetupMerge configuration flag. That setting can be\noverridden by using the --track and --no-track options, and changed later using git branch\n--set-upstream-to.\n\nWith a -m or -M option, will be renamed to . If had a\ncorresponding reflog, it is renamed to match , and a reflog entry is created to\nremember the branch renaming. If exists, -M must be used to force the rename to\nhappen.\n\nThe -c and -C options have the exact same semantics as -m and -M, except instead of the\nbranch being renamed, it will be copied to a new name, along with its config and reflog.\n\nWith a -d or -D option, will be deleted. You may specify more than one branch\nfor deletion. If the branch currently has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted.\n\nUse -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it only makes sense to\ndelete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist in the remote repository or if git\nfetch was configured not to fetch them again. See also the prune subcommand of git-remote(1)\nfor a way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.\n", "subsections": [] }, "OPTIONS": { "content": "", "subsections": [ { "name": "-d, --delete", "content": "Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its upstream branch, or in HEAD if no\nupstream was set with --track or --set-upstream-to.\n", "flag": "-d", "long": "--delete" }, { "name": "-D", "content": "Shortcut for --delete --force.\n", "flag": "-D" }, { "name": "--create-reflog", "content": "Create the branch’s reflog. This activates recording of all changes made to the branch\nref, enabling use of date based sha1 expressions such as \"@{yesterday}\". Note\nthat in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually enabled by default by the\ncore.logAllRefUpdates config option. The negated form --no-create-reflog only overrides\nan earlier --create-reflog, but currently does not negate the setting of\ncore.logAllRefUpdates.\n", "long": "--create-reflog" }, { "name": "-f, --force", "content": "Reset to , even if exists already. Without -f, git\nbranch refuses to change an existing branch. In combination with -d (or --delete), allow\ndeleting the branch irrespective of its merged status, or whether it even points to a\nvalid commit. In combination with -m (or --move), allow renaming the branch even if the\nnew branch name already exists, the same applies for -c (or --copy).\n", "flag": "-f", "long": "--force" }, { "name": "-m, --move", "content": "Move/rename a branch, together with its config and reflog.\n", "flag": "-m", "long": "--move" }, { "name": "-M", "content": "Shortcut for --move --force.\n", "flag": "-M" }, { "name": "-c, --copy", "content": "Copy a branch, together with its config and reflog.\n", "flag": "-c", "long": "--copy" }, { "name": "-C", "content": "Shortcut for --copy --force.\n\n--color[=]\nColor branches to highlight current, local, and remote-tracking branches. The value must\nbe always (the default), never, or auto.\n", "flag": "-C" }, { "name": "--no-color", "content": "Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the default to color\noutput. Same as --color=never.\n", "long": "--no-color" }, { "name": "-i, --ignore-case", "content": "Sorting and filtering branches are case insensitive.\n\n--column[=], --no-column\nDisplay branch listing in columns. See configuration variable column.branch for option\nsyntax. --column and --no-column without options are equivalent to always and never\nrespectively.\n\nThis option is only applicable in non-verbose mode.\n", "flag": "-i", "long": "--ignore-case" }, { "name": "-r, --remotes", "content": "List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches. Combine with --list to\nmatch the optional pattern(s).\n", "flag": "-r", "long": "--remotes" }, { "name": "-a, --all", "content": "List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. Combine with --list to match\noptional pattern(s).\n", "flag": "-a", "long": "--all" }, { "name": "-l, --list", "content": "List branches. With optional ..., e.g. git branch --list 'maint-*', list only\nthe branches that match the pattern(s).\n", "flag": "-l", "long": "--list" }, { "name": "--show-current", "content": "Print the name of the current branch. In detached HEAD state, nothing is printed.\n", "long": "--show-current" }, { "name": "-v, -vv, --verbose", "content": "When in list mode, show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with\nrelationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print the path of the linked\nworktree (if any) and the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git remote show\n). Note that the current worktree’s HEAD will not have its path printed (it will\nalways be your current directory).\n", "flag": "-v", "long": "--verbose" }, { "name": "-q, --quiet", "content": "Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing non-error messages.\n\n--abbrev=\nIn the verbose listing that show the commit object name, show the shortest prefix that is\nat least hexdigits long that uniquely refers the object. The default value is 7 and\ncan be overridden by the core.abbrev config option.\n", "flag": "-q", "long": "--quiet" }, { "name": "--no-abbrev", "content": "Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them.\n", "long": "--no-abbrev" }, { "name": "-t, --track", "content": "When creating a new branch, set up branch..remote and branch..merge\nconfiguration entries to mark the start-point branch as \"upstream\" from the new branch.\nThis configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the two branches in git\nstatus and git branch -v. Furthermore, it directs git pull without arguments to pull from\nthe upstream when the new branch is checked out.\n\nThis behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch. Set the\nbranch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable to false if you want git switch, git\ncheckout and git branch to always behave as if --no-track were given. Set it to always if\nyou want this behavior when the start-point is either a local or remote-tracking branch.\n", "flag": "-t", "long": "--track" }, { "name": "--no-track", "content": "Do not set up \"upstream\" configuration, even if the branch.autoSetupMerge configuration\nvariable is true.\n", "long": "--no-track" }, { "name": "--set-upstream", "content": "As this option had confusing syntax, it is no longer supported. Please use --track or\n--set-upstream-to instead.\n\n-u , --set-upstream-to=\nSet up 's tracking information so is considered 's\nupstream branch. If no is specified, then it defaults to the current branch.\n", "long": "--set-upstream" }, { "name": "--unset-upstream", "content": "Remove the upstream information for . If no branch is specified it defaults\nto the current branch.\n", "long": "--unset-upstream" }, { "name": "--edit-description", "content": "Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is for, to be used by various\nother commands (e.g. format-patch, request-pull, and merge (if enabled)). Multi-line\nexplanations may be used.\n\n--contains []\nOnly list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies\n--list.\n\n--no-contains []\nOnly list branches which don’t contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified).\nImplies --list.\n\n--merged []\nOnly list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not\nspecified). Implies --list.\n\n--no-merged []\nOnly list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not\nspecified). Implies --list.\n\n\nThe name of the branch to create or delete. The new branch name must pass all checks\ndefined by git-check-ref-format(1). Some of these checks may restrict the characters\nallowed in a branch name.\n\n\nThe new branch head will point to this commit. It may be given as a branch name, a\ncommit-id, or a tag. If this option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead.\n\n\nThe name of an existing branch to rename.\n\n\nThe new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for apply.\n\n--sort=\nSort based on the key given. Prefix - to sort in descending order of the value. You may\nuse the --sort= option multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the\nprimary key. The keys supported are the same as those in git for-each-ref. Sort order\ndefaults to the value configured for the branch.sort variable if exists, or to sorting\nbased on the full refname (including refs/... prefix). This lists detached HEAD (if\npresent) first, then local branches and finally remote-tracking branches. See git-\nconfig(1).\n", "long": "--edit-description" }, { "name": "--points-at ", "content": "Only list branches of the given object.\n", "long": "--points-at", "arg": "" }, { "name": "--format ", "content": "A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from a branch ref being shown and the object it\npoints at. The format is the same as that of git-for-each-ref(1).\n", "long": "--format", "arg": "" } ] }, "CONFIGURATION": { "content": "pager.branch is only respected when listing branches, i.e., when --list is used or implied.\nThe default is to use a pager. See git-config(1).\n", "subsections": [] }, "EXAMPLES": { "content": "Start development from a known tag\n\n$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6\n$ cd my2.6\n$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 (1)\n$ git switch my2.6.14\n\n1. This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with \"checkout -b\nmy2.6.14 v2.6.14\".\n\nDelete an unneeded branch\n\n$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git\n$ cd my.git\n$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man (1)\n$ git branch -D test (2)\n\n1. Delete the remote-tracking branches \"todo\", \"html\" and \"man\". The next fetch or pull\nwill create them again unless you configure them not to. See git-fetch(1).\n2. Delete the \"test\" branch even if the \"master\" branch (or whichever branch is currently\nchecked out) does not have all commits from the test branch.\n\nListing branches from a specific remote\n\n$ git branch -r -l '/' (1)\n$ git for-each-ref 'refs/remotes//' (2)\n\n1. Using -a would conflate with any local branches you happen to have been\nprefixed with the same pattern.\n2. for-each-ref can take a wide range of options. See git-for-each-ref(1)\n\nPatterns will normally need quoting.\n", "subsections": [] }, "NOTES": { "content": "1. “Understanding history: What is a branch?”\nfile:///usr/share/doc/git/html/user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch\n\n\n\nGit 2.34.1 02/26/2026 GIT-BRANCH(1)", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "git-check-ref-format(1), git-fetch(1), git-remote(1), ““Understanding history: What is a\nbranch?””[1] in the Git User’s Manual.\n", "subsections": [] }, "GIT": { "content": "Part of the git(1) suite\n", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "git-branch - List, create, or delete branches", "flags": [ { "flag": "-d", "long": "--delete", "arg": null, "description": "Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its upstream branch, or in HEAD if no upstream was set with --track or --set-upstream-to." }, { "flag": "-D", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Shortcut for --delete --force." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--create-reflog", "arg": null, "description": "Create the branch’s reflog. This activates recording of all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date based sha1 expressions such as \"@{yesterday}\". Note that in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually enabled by default by the core.logAllRefUpdates config option. The negated form --no-create-reflog only overrides an earlier --create-reflog, but currently does not negate the setting of core.logAllRefUpdates." }, { "flag": "-f", "long": "--force", "arg": null, "description": "Reset to , even if exists already. Without -f, git branch refuses to change an existing branch. In combination with -d (or --delete), allow deleting the branch irrespective of its merged status, or whether it even points to a valid commit. In combination with -m (or --move), allow renaming the branch even if the new branch name already exists, the same applies for -c (or --copy)." }, { "flag": "-m", "long": "--move", "arg": null, "description": "Move/rename a branch, together with its config and reflog." }, { "flag": "-M", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Shortcut for --move --force." }, { "flag": "-c", "long": "--copy", "arg": null, "description": "Copy a branch, together with its config and reflog." }, { "flag": "-C", "long": null, "arg": null, "description": "Shortcut for --copy --force. --color[=] Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote-tracking branches. The value must be always (the default), never, or auto." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-color", "arg": null, "description": "Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the default to color output. Same as --color=never." }, { "flag": "-i", "long": "--ignore-case", "arg": null, "description": "Sorting and filtering branches are case insensitive. --column[=], --no-column Display branch listing in columns. See configuration variable column.branch for option syntax. --column and --no-column without options are equivalent to always and never respectively. This option is only applicable in non-verbose mode." }, { "flag": "-r", "long": "--remotes", "arg": null, "description": "List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches. Combine with --list to match the optional pattern(s)." }, { "flag": "-a", "long": "--all", "arg": null, "description": "List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. Combine with --list to match optional pattern(s)." }, { "flag": "-l", "long": "--list", "arg": null, "description": "List branches. With optional ..., e.g. git branch --list 'maint-*', list only the branches that match the pattern(s)." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--show-current", "arg": null, "description": "Print the name of the current branch. In detached HEAD state, nothing is printed." }, { "flag": "-v", "long": "--verbose", "arg": null, "description": "When in list mode, show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print the path of the linked worktree (if any) and the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git remote show ). Note that the current worktree’s HEAD will not have its path printed (it will always be your current directory)." }, { "flag": "-q", "long": "--quiet", "arg": null, "description": "Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing non-error messages. --abbrev= In the verbose listing that show the commit object name, show the shortest prefix that is at least hexdigits long that uniquely refers the object. The default value is 7 and can be overridden by the core.abbrev config option." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-abbrev", "arg": null, "description": "Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them." }, { "flag": "-t", "long": "--track", "arg": null, "description": "When creating a new branch, set up branch..remote and branch..merge configuration entries to mark the start-point branch as \"upstream\" from the new branch. This configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the two branches in git status and git branch -v. Furthermore, it directs git pull without arguments to pull from the upstream when the new branch is checked out. This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch. Set the branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable to false if you want git switch, git checkout and git branch to always behave as if --no-track were given. Set it to always if you want this behavior when the start-point is either a local or remote-tracking branch." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-track", "arg": null, "description": "Do not set up \"upstream\" configuration, even if the branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable is true." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--set-upstream", "arg": null, "description": "As this option had confusing syntax, it is no longer supported. Please use --track or --set-upstream-to instead. -u , --set-upstream-to= Set up 's tracking information so is considered 's upstream branch. If no is specified, then it defaults to the current branch." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--unset-upstream", "arg": null, "description": "Remove the upstream information for . If no branch is specified it defaults to the current branch." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--edit-description", "arg": null, "description": "Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is for, to be used by various other commands (e.g. format-patch, request-pull, and merge (if enabled)). Multi-line explanations may be used. --contains [] Only list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list. --no-contains [] Only list branches which don’t contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list. --merged [] Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list. --no-merged [] Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list. The name of the branch to create or delete. The new branch name must pass all checks defined by git-check-ref-format(1). Some of these checks may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name. The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead. The name of an existing branch to rename. The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for apply. --sort= Sort based on the key given. Prefix - to sort in descending order of the value. You may use the --sort= option multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary key. The keys supported are the same as those in git for-each-ref. Sort order defaults to the value configured for the branch.sort variable if exists, or to sorting based on the full refname (including refs/... prefix). This lists detached HEAD (if present) first, then local branches and finally remote-tracking branches. See git- config(1)." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--points-at", "arg": "", "description": "Only list branches of the given object." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--format", "arg": "", "description": "A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from a branch ref being shown and the object it points at. The format is the same as that of git-for-each-ref(1)." } ], "examples": [ "Start development from a known tag", "$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6", "$ cd my2.6", "$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 (1)", "$ git switch my2.6.14", "1. This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with \"checkout -b", "my2.6.14 v2.6.14\".", "Delete an unneeded branch", "$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git", "$ cd my.git", "$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man (1)", "$ git branch -D test (2)", "1. Delete the remote-tracking branches \"todo\", \"html\" and \"man\". The next fetch or pull", "will create them again unless you configure them not to. See git-fetch(1).", "2. Delete the \"test\" branch even if the \"master\" branch (or whichever branch is currently", "checked out) does not have all commits from the test branch.", "Listing branches from a specific remote", "$ git branch -r -l '/' (1)", "$ git for-each-ref 'refs/remotes//' (2)", "1. Using -a would conflate with any local branches you happen to have been", "prefixed with the same pattern.", "2. for-each-ref can take a wide range of options. See git-for-each-ref(1)", "Patterns will normally need quoting." ], "see_also": [ { "name": "git-check-ref-format", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-check-ref-format/1/json" }, { "name": "git-fetch", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-fetch/1/json" }, { "name": "git-remote", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-remote/1/json" } ], "tldr": { "source": "official", "description": "Main Git command for working with branches.", "examples": [ { "description": "List all branches (local and remote; the current branch is highlighted by `*`)", "command": "git branch {{-a|--all}}" }, { "description": "List which branches include a specific Git commit in their history", "command": "git branch {{-a|--all}} --contains {{commit_hash}}" }, { "description": "Show the name of the current branch", "command": "git branch --show-current" }, { "description": "Create new branch based on the current commit", "command": "git branch {{branch_name}}" }, { "description": "Create new branch based on a specific commit", "command": "git branch {{branch_name}} {{commit_hash}}" }, { "description": "Rename a branch (you must switch to a different branch before doing this)", "command": "git branch {{-m|--move}} {{old_branch_name}} {{new_branch_name}}" }, { "description": "Delete a local branch (you must switch to a different branch before doing this)", "command": "git branch {{-d|--delete}} {{branch_name}}" }, { "description": "Delete a remote branch", "command": "git push {{remote_name}} {{-d|--delete}} {{remote_branch_name}}" } ] } }