Git Status

Git Status

git status is the command you will run the most. It tells you the current state of your repository.

Run it

git status

What it tells you

• On branch: which branch you are on.
• No commits yet: you have not made your first commit.
• Untracked files: new files Git has not seen.
• Changes to be committed: staged files ready for a commit.
• Changes not staged for commit: edited files that are not staged.

Example output

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
        modified:   index.html

Keep it short

If the output is long, use the short form:

git status -s

It prints one short line per file. A file marked with ?? is untracked, A is added/staged, and M is modified.

When to check

Run git status:

• before staging,
• before committing,
• after committing to confirm everything is saved,
• any time you are unsure what is going on.

TL;DR

• git status shows the state of your repository.
• It flags untracked, staged, and modified files.
• git status -s gives a short one-line summary.
• The clean message means all changes are committed.