How do I Reset or Revert a File to a Specific Revision

Git is a free and open-source DevOps version control platform that allows programmers to implement their code in many versions. Git users commit staging files to enforce changes on the project. But sometimes, developers do not like changes and want to revert them or may want to revert some files to a specific revision.

This article will demonstrate how to reset a file to a specific previous revision.

How to Reset a File to a Specific Revision?

To revert or reset the file to a specific revision, first, open the Git repository and utilize the “git reset HEAD~<revision>” command.

To revert or reset the file, follow the provided procedure.

Step 1: Open Git Bash Terminal

First, open the “Git Bash” terminal:

Step 2: Open Git Repository

Next, move to the local Git repository by utilizing the “cd” command:

$ cd "C:\Git"

Step 3: Make New File

Make a new file through the “touch” command:

$ touch File.txt

After that, check the repository state to verify whether the new file is created or not:

$ git status

Step 4: Add File to Staging Environment

Utilize the provided command to enter an untracked file into the staging area:

$ git add File.txt

Step 5: Commit New File

Next, commit the new file to implement changes through the below command:

$ git commit -m "File.txt is committed"

To verify whether the changes are committed or not, check out the repository log using the “git log” command:

$ git log

Here, you can see the new file is committed successfully:

Step 6: Modify Committed File

Open the file in the default Git editor by using the “start” command along with the file name:

$ start File.txt

Modify the file content and after that press the “Ctrl+S” keys to save changes:

Step 7: Add Modified File to Staging Area

Again, utilize the “git add” command to add changes to the staging area and make them ready for commit:

$ git add File.txt

View the repository state and verify if the modified file is added to the staging area or not:

$ git status

Step 8: Commit Modified File

To commit changes to the local repository, run the provided command:

$ git commit -m "File.txt is modified"

Again, check the Git repository logs to verify if the modified changes or committed or not:

$ git log

Step 9: Reset a File to Previous Revision

Next, reset the file to the previous version to undo the modification using the “git reset” command. The value along with “HEAD” specified the file revision:

$ git reset --hard HEAD~1

Alternatively, Git users can revert the file to a specific revision by using the “git checkout” command and specifying the commit id along with the file path:

$ git checkout 7e1cbc6 --File.txt

Again, start the file to the default selected editor to verify whether the file is reverted to a specific revision or not:

$ start File.txt

The following output indicates that the file was successfully reverted:

We have taught you how to reset a file to a specific revision.

Conclusion

To revert or reset the file to a specific revision, first, open the Git local repository. Next, modify the file content and commit that file to implement changes. In order to revert the file into a specific revision, utilize the “git reset –hard HEAD~<revision>” command or “git checkout <commit/revision id> –<Filename or Path>” command. We have demonstrated how to reset files to a specific revision.