Git Logs & History Cheat Sheet

Basic Log Commands

Display commit history.

git log

Compact one-line format:

git log --oneline

Show last N commits:

git log -n 5

Formatted Logs

Show log with graph visualization.

git log --graph

Detailed graph with branch names:

git log --graph --oneline --decorate --all

Custom format:

git log --pretty=format:"%h - %an, %ar : %s"

Filter by Date

Show commits since specific date.

git log --since="2 weeks ago"

Show commits until date:

git log --until="2024-01-01"

Show commits in date range:

git log --since="2024-01-01" --until="2024-12-31"

Filter by Author

Show commits by specific author.

git log --author="John Doe"

Multiple authors:

git log --author="John\|Jane"

Filter by Message

Search commits by message content.

git log --grep="bug fix"

Case-insensitive search:

git log --grep="feature" -i

Show File Changes

Display files changed in each commit.

git log --stat

Show full diff in each commit:

git log -p

Show changes for specific file:

git log -p <filename>

Show Commits for File

View commit history for specific file.

git log -- <filename>

Follow renames:

git log --follow -- <filename>

Show Commits in Range

Display commits between two references.

git log <branch1>..<branch2>

Show commits in branch1 not in branch2:

git log branch1 ^branch2

Show Who Changed Lines

Display who last modified each line.

git blame <filename>

Show specific line range:

git blame -L 10,20 <filename>

Reference Log

Show history of HEAD movements.

git reflog

Show reflog for specific branch:

git reflog show <branch-name>

Search Code History

Find when specific string was added or removed.

git log -S "search string"

Search with regex:

git log -G "regex pattern"

Show Merge Commits

Display only merge commits.

git log --merges

Exclude merge commits:

git log --no-merges

Shortlog Summary

Summarize commits by author.

git shortlog

Show commit counts:

git shortlog -sn