There are times during development when you realize the last commit you made contains a mistake — maybe a typo, unwanted files, or the wrong message. The good news? Git allows you to delete or undo that last commit with a few simple commands.
In this post, we’ll show you how to delete the last commit in Git, depending on your situation — whether it’s been pushed or not.
⚠️ Before You Begin
Understand whether the commit has been pushed to a remote repository or not:
- If NOT pushed: You can safely delete or modify it locally.
- If already pushed: Be careful — rewriting history affects others working on the same repository.
🔧 Option 1: Delete Last Commit (Local Only)
If the last commit hasn’t been pushed yet:
git reset --soft HEAD~1
This deletes the last commit but keeps the changes staged (in the index). You can recommit or fix things.
To unstage the changes too:
git reset --mixed HEAD~1
To discard the changes completely:
git reset --hard HEAD~1
🛰️ Option 2: Delete Last Commit That Has Been Pushed
⚠️ This rewrites history. Only do this if you’re sure others aren’t depending on the commit.
git reset --hard HEAD~1
git push origin main --force
Replace main with your branch name.
🧠 Understanding the Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
--soft | Removes the commit, but keeps changes staged |
--mixed | Removes the commit, unstages changes |
--hard | Removes the commit and all changes |
--force | Overwrites remote history (use with caution) |
✅ Summary
| Goal | Command |
|---|---|
| Delete last commit, keep changes | git reset --soft HEAD~1 |
| Delete commit + unstage changes | git reset --mixed HEAD~1 |
| Delete commit + discard changes | git reset --hard HEAD~1 |
| Delete pushed commit | git reset --hard HEAD~1 && git push --force |
🚀 Pro Tip
If you just want to change the commit message instead of deleting the whole commit:
git commit --amend
🏁 Conclusion
Deleting the last commit in Git is easy when you understand your intent: preserve changes, unstage them, or discard them entirely. Be extra cautious when working with pushed commits — especially on shared branches.
