View a List of Commits & Undo Changes

Viewing Changes & Undoing Changes

Sometimes you make a mistake and want to go back to a previous version. Here’s how to rollback changes.

Undo Local Changes That Have Not Been Committed

If you have made changes that you don’t like, and they have not been committed yet, do as follows:

1. In the Source Control panel you’ll see files that have been changed.
2. Hover over any file that contains changes you don’t want to keep and click Discard Changes button that appears.

3. When it confirms, click Discard Changes.

   That file has now been reverted to the way it was at the previous commit (before your changes).

Install the Git Graph Extension for Visual Studio Code

To add some useful Git features to Visual Studio Code, you should install the Git Graph extension:

1. On the left side of the Visual Studio Code window, click on the Extensions icon .

2. In the search field type: Git Graph

3. Under the Git Graph click Install.

View a List of Commits

You’ll need the Git Graph extension installed for this to work.

1. Towards the bottom left of the window (in the blue bar), click Git Graph.

   Alternatively, at the top of Source Control panel you can click the View Git Graph button.

2. In the Git Graph tab that opens you can:

   • Read through the list of commit messages to find a commit.
   • Click on the commit to see which files were changed.
   • Within the commit, click on a file name to see the changes.

Undo Your Last Commit (That Has Not Been Pushed)

If you made a mistake on your last commit and have not pushed yet, you can undo it. For example, maybe you added some files and made a commit, and then immediately realized you forgot something. You can undo the commit, and then make a new (correct) commit. This will keep your history cleaner.

1. At the top right of Source Control panel click the More Actions button and from the menu choose Commit > Undo Last Commit.

2. Your latest commit will now be undone. Your changes remain in place, and the files go back to being staged so you can unstage those files and make additional changes, add missing files, discard changes, etc. before making your next commit.

Undo a Specific Commit (That Has Not Been Pushed)

If you have made local commits that you don’t like, and they have NOT been pushed yet, you can reset things back to a previous good commit. It will be as if the bad commits never happened.

You’ll need the Git Graph extension installed for this to work.

1. Towards the bottom left of the window (in the blue bar), click Git Graph.

   Alternatively, at the top of Source Control panel you can click the View Git Graph button.

2. To figure out what the commits do (and thereby which commit you want to undo):

   • Read through the list of commit messages to find a commit.
   • Click on the commit to see which files were changed.
   • Within the commit, click on a file name to see the changes.
   • Close the changed file tab so you end up back in the Git Graph tab.
3. Once you know which commit (that has not been pushed) you want to remove, in the Git Graph tab, Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the name of the commit and choose Drop.

4. Confirm that you want to drop it.

   That commit will be removed and the changes reversed. Your files have been updated so it’s as though those changes (and that commit) were never made.

Undo a Specific Commit (That Has Been Pushed)

If you have made a local commit that you don’t like, and it has been pushed, you can reset things back to a previous good commit. It will be as if the changes made by the bad commit never happened (although you will still see the commit was made, and then reverted).

You’ll need the Git Graph extension installed for this to work.

1. Towards the bottom left of the window (in the blue bar), click Git Graph.

   Alternatively, at the top of Source Control panel you can click the View Git Graph button.

2. To figure out what the commits do (and thereby which commit you want to undo):

   • Read through the list of commit messages to find a commit.
   • Click on the commit to see which files were changed.
   • Within the commit, click on a file name to see the changes.
   • Close the changed file tab so you end up back in the Git Graph tab.
3. Once you know which commit you want to revert, in the Git Graph tab, Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the name of the commit and choose Revert.

4. Confirm that you want to drop it.

   A new commit will be created that reverses the original commit.

   NOTE: If there were any conflicts, you’ll have to manage them and then make a new commit.

5. Push whenever you’re ready to upload those changes to GitHub so others can get them.