Move commits from master to a new branch git Code Snippet in 2025

Moves local commits from the master branch to a new branch.

• Use git branch <branch> to create a new branch at the tip of the current master.
• Use git reset HEAD~<n> --hard to rewind back <n> commits and discard changes.
• Use git checkout <branch> to switch to the new branch.
• Only works if the changes have only been committed locally and not pushed to the remote.

git branch <branch>
git reset HEAD~<n> --hard
git checkout <branch>

git checkout master
git add .
git commit -m "Fix network bug"
git branch patch-1
# `patch-1` branch is created containing the commit "Fix network bug"
git reset HEAD~1 --hard # Remove the commit from `master`
git checkout patch-1