Visual Git is a free, interactive web app that teaches Git by animating how each command transforms a repository — commits, branches, merges, rebases, remotes and conflicts.

Is Visual Git free to use?

Yes. Visual Git runs entirely in your browser and is completely free.

Visual Git — Learn Git by Watching It Work

Working Directory

index.html

app.js

Staging Area

nothing staged

Local Repository

No commits yet

An ordinary folder

You have a plain project folder with some files. Git is not tracking anything yet.

Step 1 of 3

TimelineFolder

BeginnerInitialise a repository

git init

bash

$ # (no command this step)

Purpose

Creates a new, empty Git repository by adding a hidden .git directory that stores all history and configuration.

When to use it

When you are starting a brand-new project locally and want to begin tracking it with Git.

Important notes

Everything Git needs lives inside the hidden .git folder at the project root.
A fresh repository has no commits yet — HEAD points at an unborn branch.
Modern Git names the default branch main; older versions used master.

Common mistakes

Running git init inside an existing repository by accident (check with git status first).
Initialising in your home directory instead of the project folder.

Real-world example

You create a folder for a new side project, cd into it, and run git init to start version control before writing any code.

Best practices

Add a .gitignore before your first commit so build artefacts never get tracked.
Set git config init.defaultBranch main to standardise your branch name.

Related commands

Git commands and workflows covered

git init

Turn any folder into a Git repository.

Creates a new, empty Git repository by adding a hidden .git directory that stores all history and configuration.

git clone

Copy a remote repository to your machine.

Downloads a complete copy of a remote repository — full history, all branches and a working copy of the files.

git status

See what has changed and what is staged.

Shows the state of your working directory and staging area: which files are untracked, modified, or staged for the next commit.

git add

Move changes into the staging area.

Adds file changes to the staging area (the index), marking exactly what will go into your next commit.

git commit

Save staged changes as a new commit.

Permanently records the staged snapshot as a new commit, with a message, author and link to its parent.

git log

Walk backwards through the commit history.

Displays the commit history reachable from HEAD, newest first, with hashes, authors, dates and messages.

git diff

See exactly what changed, line by line.

Shows line-level differences between the working directory, the staging area and commits.

git branch

Make a new line of development.

Creates a new branch pointer at the current commit so you can develop in isolation without touching main.

git switch

Move HEAD onto another branch.

Moves HEAD to another branch and updates your working directory to match that branch.

git checkout

Switch branches or restore files — the original way.

Historically does many things: switch branches, restore files, and check out specific commits (detaching HEAD).

git merge

Combine another branch into the current one.

Integrates the changes from one branch into another, creating a merge commit when the histories have diverged.

git rebase

Replay commits on top of another branch.

Moves a branch to a new base by replaying its commits one-by-one on top of another commit, producing a linear history.

git cherry-pick

Copy a single commit onto the current branch.

Applies the changes introduced by one specific commit onto the current branch as a new commit.

git remote

Connect your repo to servers like GitHub.

Lists and manages the named connections (remotes) to other copies of your repository, such as origin.

git push

Send your commits to the remote.

Uploads your local commits to a remote branch, sharing your work with others.

git fetch

Download remote changes without merging.

Downloads new commits and refs from the remote into your remote-tracking branches, without changing your working branch.

git pull

Fetch and integrate in one step.

A convenience command that fetches from the remote and then merges (or rebases) the changes into your current branch.

git restore

Discard changes or unstage files.

Restores files in your working directory or unstages them, without touching commit history.

git reset

Move the branch pointer back — soft, mixed or hard.

Moves the current branch pointer to another commit, optionally rewriting the staging area and working directory.

git revert

Undo a commit by adding an inverse commit.

Creates a new commit that reverses the changes of an earlier commit, without deleting history.

git stash

Shelve work in progress temporarily.

Saves your uncommitted changes onto a stack and reverts the working directory to a clean state, so you can switch context.

git tag

Mark a commit with a memorable name.

Attaches a permanent, human-friendly label (like v1.0.0) to a specific commit, typically to mark releases.

git reflog

See every move HEAD has made.

Records every change to HEAD (commits, checkouts, resets, rebases), letting you recover "lost" commits.

git bisect

Binary-search history for the commit that broke things.

Performs a binary search across commits to pinpoint exactly which commit introduced a bug.

git blame

Attribute every line to a commit and author.

Shows, for each line of a file, the commit and author that last changed it.

git clean

Delete untracked files from the working tree.

Removes untracked files (and optionally directories) from your working directory.

git gc

Compress and tidy the object database.

Cleans up unnecessary files and compresses loose objects to optimise the local repository.

git worktree

Check out several branches at once, side by side.

Lets one repository have multiple working directories, each on a different branch, sharing the same history.

git submodule

Embed one repository inside another.

Includes another Git repository as a subdirectory, pinned to a specific commit of that repo.

Merge conflict

Handle overlapping edits from two branches.

A conflict occurs when two branches change the same lines differently and Git cannot decide automatically. You resolve it by choosing the final content.

Pull Request Flow

Branch, push, open a PR, review, merge.

The standard team workflow: develop on a branch, push it, open a pull request for review, then merge into main.

Fork Workflow

Contribute to a project you cannot push to.

For open-source or cross-team contributions: you fork the upstream repo, push to your fork, and open a PR back to upstream.

Git Flow

main, develop, feature, release and hotfix branches.

A structured branching model with long-lived main and develop branches plus feature, release and hotfix branches.

Trunk Based Development

Everyone integrates to main constantly.

A model where developers integrate small changes into a single trunk (main) very frequently, using short-lived branches and feature flags.

An ordinary folder

Visual Git — learn Git commands through interactive animations

Git commands and workflows covered

git init

git clone

git status

git add

git commit

git log

git diff

git branch

git switch

git checkout

git merge

git rebase

git cherry-pick

git remote

git push

git fetch

git pull

git restore

git reset

git revert

git stash

git tag

git reflog

git bisect

git blame

git clean

git gc

git worktree

git submodule

Merge conflict

Pull Request Flow

Fork Workflow

Git Flow

Trunk Based Development