git reset --hard explained (soft vs mixed vs hard)

1. What git reset does
2. Undo the last commit, keep the work
3. Discard everything with --hard
4. Recovering after a --hard reset

#What git reset does

git reset moves the current branch tip to a commit you choose. The flag controls how far the reset reaches:

• --soft: move the branch, keep everything staged.
• --mixed (the default): move the branch, unstage changes, keep them in your working directory.
• --hard: move the branch and discard all staged and working-directory changes.

#Undo the last commit, keep the work

To undo your most recent commit but keep the changes so you can re-commit them, use --soft or the default --mixed:

git reset --soft HEAD~1   # commit undone, changes still staged
git reset HEAD~1          # commit undone, changes unstaged but present

#Discard everything with --hard

--hard resets the branch and wipes uncommitted changes. Use it when you genuinely want to throw work away:

git reset --hard HEAD     # discard all uncommitted changes
git reset --hard HEAD~1   # delete the last commit and its changes

A common use is forcing your local branch to match the remote exactly:

git fetch origin
git reset --hard origin/main

This is destructive. Anything not committed is gone. If you only want to clean up untracked files (not reset tracked ones), use git clean instead.

#Recovering after a --hard reset

If you reset away a commit you actually needed, it is usually still findable for a while. git reflog records where HEAD has been:

git reflog
git reset --hard <commit-hash-from-reflog>

Note that reflog only recovers committed work. Changes that were never committed and got discarded by --hard cannot be recovered. When in doubt, stash your changes instead of resetting.