How to undo a commit in GitHub?

 

Step 1: View Your Commit History

 

• Open your terminal or command prompt.
• Change directory to your local repository:

Run the following command to see a concise list of recent commits:

git log --oneline

 

Step 2: Undo a Specific Commit Using git revert

 

• The git revert command creates a new commit that reverses the changes introduced by a given commit, preserving history.
• Copy the commit hash from the output of git log --oneline.

Use git revert like this:

git revert 

• Git will open your default editor to confirm the revert commit message.
• Save and close the editor to complete the revert.

 

Step 3: Undo the Last Commit Locally Using git reset

 

• If you haven’t pushed the last commit to the remote repository, you can remove it from your local history.
• Choose the type of reset:

• Soft reset (keeps changes staged):

git reset --soft HEAD~1

• Mixed reset (keeps changes unstaged):

git reset --mixed HEAD~1

• Hard reset (discards changes completely):

git reset --hard HEAD~1

• After reset, your working directory will reflect the chosen option.

 

Step 4: Amend the Last Commit Instead of Undoing

 

• If you simply need to modify the last commit message or include new changes, use --amend.

git add .                       # Stage any new changes
git commit --amend -m "New message"

• This rewrites the last commit without creating a separate undo commit.

 

Step 5: Push Your Changes to GitHub

 

• After using git revert or git commit --amend, a normal git push is sufficient:

git push origin main

• If you used git reset or --amend on a commit that was already pushed, you must force-push:

git push --force origin main

• Be cautious: force-pushing rewrites remote history and can affect collaborators.

 

Step 6: Revert a Pull Request on GitHub Website

 

• Navigate to your repository on GitHub.
• Click on the “Pull requests” tab and select the merged pull request you want to undo.
• Click the Revert button next to the merge commit message.
• GitHub will create a new pull request that undoes the changes. Review and merge it to apply the revert.

 

Additional Tips

 

• Always communicate with your team before rewriting shared history.
• Use git reflog to recover commits after a hard reset or other history edits.
• Consider protected branches on GitHub to prevent force-push accidents.