How to amend a commit

Git allows users to ensure that they never lose a committed message. However, it does give users complete control over their workflow and will , therefore, enable users with multiple commands to rewrite their commits.

The git commit –amend command conveniently lets users modify the most recent commit. It allows users to combine staged and previous commits without making a new commit.

You can also change the previous commit message in case of an error without changing the snapshot.

Note: Amending does not just alter the most recent commit, it replaces it entirely with a completely new entity.

Changing the most recent commit message

You can change the commit message by using the following command. Please note that there should be nothing staged when running this command.

Open Terminal and type:

git commit --amend -m "YOUR MESSAGE HERE."

This action will only edit the message without changing the git snapshot.

Changing committed files

In case you forget to commit a particular file and you need to ensure that all the files are committed in the same snapshot, follow these commands:

1. Stage the files you need to commit:

git add hello.py

2. Commit with the --amend flag:

git commit --amend -m "Commit message."

You can use the --no-edit flag if you do not want to alter the message as the previous commit.

To use the same commit message, use:

git commit --amend --no-edit

Note: Do not amend public commits. These commits will no longer be on your current batch, and the other developers editing that snapshot may get confused, which could result in merge conflicts and other potential issues.