How can I discard changes to unstaged files using magit?

Question

Is there a way to issue the command:

git checkout NameOfFile

on a modified and unstaged file from within MAGIT?

You can press k to kill the changes when point is on the same line with the unstaged file. — Tu Do, May 26 '15 at 16:34
@moritzschaefer There is no indication that this question applies to spacemacs. — , Oct 19 '18 at 16:39

score 58 · Accepted Answer · edited May 26 '15 at 16:43

58

You can use one of the below to discard changes in unstaged files:

M-x magit-revert-item (bound to v in magit-status-mode)
M-x magit-discard-item (bound to k in magit-status-mode) - works on staged items too

Using either method will ask you to confirm before discarding.

edited May 26 '15 at 16:43

Kaushal Modi

25,651
4
80
183

answered May 26 '15 at 16:33

Manuel Uberti

3,250
19
37

3

You can also use k which is bound to magit-discard-item in magit-mode. – Kaushal Modi May 26 '15 at 16:35
Yes, that works too. – Manuel Uberti May 26 '15 at 16:36
Tried using both methods, however I still receive the message: "Nothing to discard here". – user2522280 Jun 12 '15 at 15:55
thanks! Magit-mode seems like the best way to do just about everything I've found... – Jimmy Hoffa Apr 09 '16 at 16:32
@user2522280 Have you saved your file? git status should give you information that the file has been modified. – Oct 19 '18 at 16:40
Is there any way, so I can discard all unstaged changes? – Kaushal Aug 08 '19 at 06:41
Try pressing k on Unstage changes (<n>) (where is the number of unstage changes you have). – Manuel Uberti Aug 08 '19 at 07:15
1

What's incredible is that k and v also work on local changes inside a file! You can thus reverse some changes and keep the others in the same file. Magit rocks \o/ – kotchwane May 29 '20 at 08:21
I found that M-x magit-revert-item only worked for staged changes, whereas M-x magit-discard-item allowed me to discard changes in un-staged items – PeterT Sep 20 '22 at 16:16
In newer versions of magit these are called simply magit-discard and magit-revert. – Christian Herenz Dec 09 '22 at 12:54
Magit has changed since this answer was written so now only k works. – Stand with Gaza Sep 23 '23 at 14:37

tarsius · Answer 2 · 2015-07-03T13:52:40.573

20

Reversing, reverting and discarding are distinct actions. Together with staging and unstaging, they are referred to as "apply variants".

To discard a change means to throw it away. Only un-committed changes can be discarded. When a staged change is discarded it is not only removed from the index (that is known as unstaging), but also from the work tree.

To reverse a change means to apply it to the work tree in reverse. Both committed and merely staged changes can be reversed. (Reversing staged changes is actually useful, i.e. when splitting up a commit).

Only commits can be reverted, in other regards it's similar to reversing.

See https://github.com/magit/magit/wiki/History-Manipulation for details.

edited Jul 03 '15 at 13:52

answered May 27 '15 at 12:40

tarsius

25,685
4
70
109

"Reverting staged changes..." - you meant "Reversing staged changes..." I guess – npostavs May 27 '15 at 13:41
Yes. Common mistake because this distinction is not as clear as the other :-) – tarsius May 27 '15 at 14:27

How can I discard changes to unstaged files using magit?

2 Answers2