Undo – remove a commit completely

In this example, we'll learn how we can undo a commit as if it had never happened. We'll learn how we can use the reset command to effectively discard the commit and thereby reset our branch to the desired state.

Getting ready

In this example, we'll use the example of the hello world repository, clone the repository, and change your working directory to the cloned one:

$ git clone https://github.com/dvaske/hello_world_cookbook.git
$ cd hello_world_cookbook

How to do it...

First, we'll try to undo the latest commit in the repository as though it never happened:

1. We'll make sure our working directory is clean, no files are in the modified state, and nothing is added to the index:

   $ git status
   On branch master
   Your branch is up-to-date with 'origin/master'.
   
   nothing to commit, working directory clean
   

2. Also, check what is in our working tree:

   $ ls
   HelloWorld.java Makefile        hello_world.c
   

3. If all works well, we'll check the log to see the history of the repository...