git reflog

Description:
Show reference logs - a record of where your HEAD and branch references have been. Essential for recovering lost commits.

Syntax:

bash

git reflog
git reflog show <ref>
git reflog expire

Examples:

bash

# Show all reflog entries
git reflog

# Show reflog for specific branch
git reflog show main

# Show last 10 entries
git reflog -10

# Show with dates
git reflog --date=relative

# Recover deleted branch/commit
git reflog
# Find commit hash, then:
git checkout -b recovered-branch abc123

# Undo a reset
git reflog
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}

Detailed Explanation:

Local only - Reflog is not pushed to remotes
Safety net - Records every change to HEAD
Temporary - Entries expire after 90 days by default (30 for unreachable objects)
Recovery tool - Can recover "lost" commits after reset or rebase

Reflog Output:

bash

abc123 (HEAD -> main) HEAD@{0}: commit: Add new feature
def456 HEAD@{1}: commit: Fix bug
ghi789 HEAD@{2}: checkout: moving from develop to main
jkl012 HEAD@{3}: reset: moving to HEAD~1

Recovery Scenarios:

Scenario 1: Recover deleted branch

bash

# Accidentally deleted branch
git branch -D feature-branch

# Find commit in reflog
git reflog
# Output: abc123 HEAD@{2}: commit: Last feature commit

# Recreate branch
git branch feature-branch abc123

Scenario 2: Undo hard reset

bash

# Oops! Reset too far back
git reset --hard HEAD~3

# Find correct position
git reflog
# Output: def456 HEAD@{1}: commit: Good commit

# Restore to correct position
git reset --hard def456

Scenario 3: Find lost commits

bash

# After rebasing, find old commits
git reflog

# Create branch from old commit
git branch old-version abc123

Advanced Usage:

bash

# Show reflog as graph
git log --graph --oneline --all $(git reflog | cut -c1-7)

# Expire old reflog entries
git reflog expire --expire=30.days --all

# Prune unreachable objects
git gc --prune=now

Pro Tips:

Reflog is your safety net - check it before panicking about lost work
Use HEAD@{n} to reference previous positions
Reflog survives most Git operations (except git gc --prune)
Use reflog immediately after realizing a mistake
Reflog is local - can't recover work from other machines

Related Commands:

git reset – Move branch pointer
git checkout – Switch branches/commits
git log – View commit history

git reflog ​

git reflog