git stash — Shelving Work in Progress

What It Does

git stash temporarily shelves (stashes) your uncommitted changes — both staged and unstaged — so you can switch context without committing half-finished work. The working tree is restored to a clean state matching HEAD. You can return to your stashed work at any time.

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Basic Usage

Save current changes to the stash

# Stash staged + unstaged tracked changes
git stash

# Stash with a descriptive message (recommended)
git stash push -m "wip: transaction export — adding streaming response"

# Also stash untracked (new, unstaged) files
git stash push -u -m "wip: adding export feature including new files"

# Also stash ignored files (rarely needed)
git stash push -a -m "full stash including ignored files"

View the stash list

git stash list
# stash@{0}: On feature/JIRA-113: wip: transaction export — adding streaming response
# stash@{1}: On feature/JIRA-123: wip: work in progress before standup
# stash@{2}: WIP on main: a3f9bc2 fix: null check

Apply the most recent stash (keeps it in the list)

git stash apply
git stash apply stash@{2}   # apply a specific stash

Pop the most recent stash (apply + remove from list)

git stash pop
git stash pop stash@{1}     # pop a specific stash

Inspect a stash before applying

# Show the diff of a stash
git stash show -p stash@{0}

# Show just the changed files
git stash show stash@{0}

Drop (delete) a stash

git stash drop stash@{1}    # delete a specific stash
git stash clear             # delete ALL stashes (cannot be undone)

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Stashing Only Specific Files

Use --patch to selectively stash individual hunks:

git stash push -p -m "wip: stash only the export changes"

Or stash specific files:

git stash push -m "wip: stash service only" \
  src/main/java/com/example/TransactionService.java

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Stash and Branch

Create a new branch from a stash — useful when your stash has grown into a proper feature:

git stash branch feature/JIRA-113-export stash@{0}
# Creates a new branch from the commit where the stash was created,
# applies the stash, and drops it on success

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Common Workflow Scenarios

Switch branches mid-work

# You're halfway through a feature and someone needs a hotfix review
git stash push -m "wip: export feature half done"
git switch hotfix/JIRA-999

# Review, comment, and return
git switch feature/JIRA-113
git stash pop

Pull the latest before applying your WIP

git stash push -m "wip: before pulling main"
git pull --rebase origin main
git stash pop   # if there are conflicts, resolve them as usual

Use --autostash with pull

# Git automatically stashes, pulls, then pops — all in one command
git pull --rebase --autostash

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Useful Flags Summary

Flag	Meaning
push -m "msg"	Stash with a descriptive message
-u / --include-untracked	Also stash new untracked files
-a / --all	Also stash ignored files
-p / --patch	Interactively choose hunks to stash
apply	Apply stash without removing from list
pop	Apply stash and remove from list
drop	Delete a stash entry
clear	Delete all stash entries
show -p	Show full diff of a stash
branch <name>	Create a branch from a stash
list	Show all stash entries

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Prefer WIP Commits Over Long-Lived Stashes

For work that spans more than an hour, prefer creating a git commit -m "wip: [description]" instead of leaving it in the stash. WIP commits are visible in git log, included in pushes (as backup), and are recoverable via git reflog. Stashes are easy to forget and are not pushed to remotes. Amend or squash the WIP commit later.