git stash pop vs apply: save and restore changes

1. Stashing your changes
2. pop vs apply
3. Working with multiple stashes
4. When pop hits a conflict

#Stashing your changes

git stash takes your modified tracked files, saves them away, and gives you a clean working directory:

git stash

By default it does not include untracked files. Add -u to stash those too:

git stash -u

Give a stash a label so you can recognise it later:

git stash push -m "half-finished login form"

#pop vs apply

Both bring your changes back. The difference is what happens to the stash afterwards:

git stash pop     # restore the changes AND delete the stash entry
git stash apply   # restore the changes but KEEP the stash entry

Use apply when you want to restore the same changes onto more than one branch. Use pop for the normal "I'm back, give me my work" case.

#Working with multiple stashes

List what you have stashed:

git stash list

stash@{0}: On main: half-finished login form
stash@{1}: WIP on feature: 3f9a1c2 ...

Apply or pop a specific one by its reference:

git stash apply stash@{1}
git stash pop stash@{1}

Drop a stash you no longer need, or clear them all:

git stash drop stash@{0}
git stash clear

#When pop hits a conflict

If your stashed changes conflict with the current state of the files, git stash pop stops with merge conflicts and, importantly, keeps the stash so you do not lose it. Resolve the conflicts, stage the files, then drop the stash manually:

git stash drop

If you would rather permanently discard uncommitted changes than stash them, see git reset --hard.