How to rollback changes in GitHub?

 
Step 1: Check Your Current Git Status
 

• Open your terminal or command prompt in your project directory.
• Run git status to see which files are modified, staged, or untracked.
• This helps you decide what kind of rollback you need.

git status

 
Step 2: Discard Unstaged Local Changes
 

• If you have modified files that you haven’t staged yet and want to discard those changes, use git checkout (Git 2.23+ uses git restore).

// For older Git versions
git checkout -- path/to/file

// Or with Git 2.23+
git restore path/to/file

 
Step 3: Unstage Staged Changes
 

• When you’ve added files to the staging area (git add) but want to remove them from staging without deleting your edits, use git reset.

git reset HEAD path/to/file

 
Step 4: Revert a Commit Without Changing History
 

• Use git revert if the commit is already pushed or merged and you want to create a new commit that undoes the changes.
• This approach is safe for shared repositories.

git revert <commit-hash>
# Follow prompts to edit commit message, then save and exit.

 
Step 5: Reset to a Previous Commit (Local History Rewrite)
 

• To move your current branch pointer to an earlier commit and discard all changes after it, use git reset --hard.
• Be careful: this permanently deletes uncommitted work and any commits after the target.

git reset --hard <commit-hash>

 
Step 6: Force Push to Remote (If You Rewrote Public History)
 

• If you used git reset --hard on a branch that others pull from, you must force-push to overwrite the remote history.
• Use with caution to avoid disrupting collaborators.

git push --force origin branch-name

 
Step 7: Revert a Merged Pull Request via GitHub UI
 

• Navigate to the merged pull request in your repository on GitHub.
• Click the Revert button. GitHub will create a new pull request that undoes the changes of the original.
• Review, merge the new PR, and the original merge is effectively rolled back.

 
Step 8: Verify Your Rollback
 

• Run git log or view the commit history on GitHub to confirm the rollback or revert commits are present.
• Run git status again to ensure your working directory is clean.

git log --oneline
git status