Git Aliases That Save Hours Every Week

If you use git daily, you’re probably typing the same 5-10 commands hundreds of times a week. Git aliases fix that.

Setup#

Add these to your ~/.gitconfig under [alias]:

1
[alias]
2
    # Status & info
3
    s = status -sb
4
    l = log --oneline -20
5
    ll = log --oneline --graph --all -30
6

7
    # Staging
8
    a = add
9
    aa = add -A
10
    ap = add -p
11

12
    # Commits
13
    c = commit
14
    cm = commit -m
15
    ca = commit --amend --no-edit
16
    cam = commit --amend
17

18
    # Branches
19
    co = checkout
20
    cb = checkout -b
21
    bd = branch -d
22
    bD = branch -D
23

24
    # Push & pull
25
    p = push
26
    pf = push --force-with-lease
27
    pl = pull --rebase
28

29
    # Diff
30
    d = diff
31
    ds = diff --staged
32
    dn = diff --name-only
33

34
    # Stash
35
    st = stash
36
    stp = stash pop
37
    stl = stash list
38

39
    # Reset
40
    unstage = reset HEAD --
41
    undo = reset --soft HEAD~1

The Ones I Use Most#

`git s` — Compact Status#

1
$ git s
2
## main...origin/main
3
 M src/components/Header.astro
4
?? src/content/blog/new-post.md

The -sb flag gives you branch info and short format. No noise, just what changed.

`git l` — Quick Log#

1
$ git l
2
a1b2c3d Add dark mode toggle
3
e4f5g6h Fix header alignment
4
i7j8k9l Update dependencies

Twenty commits, one line each. Enough to orient yourself without scrolling.

`git ap` — Patch Add#

The most underused git command. git add -p lets you stage individual chunks within a file:

1
$ git ap
2
# Shows each change and asks:
3
# Stage this hunk [y,n,q,a,d,s,e,?]?

This is how you make clean, focused commits instead of “fixed stuff” commits.

`git undo` — Soft Reset#

1
$ git undo
2
# Undoes the last commit but keeps all changes staged

Made a typo in the commit message? Forgot to add a file? git undo is your safety net.

`git pf` — Safe Force Push#

1
$ git pf
2
# push --force-with-lease
3
# Force pushes BUT fails if someone else pushed first

Never use --force. Always use --force-with-lease. It prevents you from overwriting a teammate’s work.

Shell Aliases (Even Faster)#

For commands you run 50+ times a day, add shell aliases too:

1
alias g="git"
2
alias gs="git s"
3
alias gc="git cm"
4
alias gp="git p"
5
alias gl="git l"
6
alias gd="git d"
7
alias ga="git aa"

Now gs shows status, gc "message" commits, gp pushes. Three characters per command.

The Compound Effect#

These aliases save maybe 2-3 seconds per command. But over 100+ git operations per day, that’s 5 minutes. Over a year, that’s 30+ hours — plus the cognitive load reduction of not remembering long flags.

Start with s, l, cm, and undo. Add more as you feel friction. Your future self will thank you.

Ink & Bytes

Setup#

The Ones I Use Most#

git s — Compact Status#

git l — Quick Log#

git ap — Patch Add#

git undo — Soft Reset#

git pf — Safe Force Push#