How do I stash only one of the multiple changed files on my branch?

 

To stash only one of the multiple changed files on your branch in Git, you can use the git stash command with the -- option to specify the file you want to stash. Here's how to do it with an example:

Suppose you have multiple files with changes in your working directory, but you only want to stash changes in a file named file-to-stash.txt.

1. Check the Status of Your Working Directory:

   You can use git status to see which files are modified:

   bash

git status

Stash the Specific File:

Use the git stash command with the -- option followed by the path to the file you want to stash:

bash

git stash push -- file-to-stash.txt

Replace file-to-stash.txt with the actual path to the file you want to stash.

Verify the Stash:

To verify that the file is stashed and your working directory is clean, you can use git status again:

bash

git status

You should see a clean working directory, indicating that the file you specified has been stashed.

Apply the Stash Later (if needed):

If you want to apply the stashed changes back to your working directory at a later time, you can use the git stash apply command:

bash

4. git stash apply
   

   This will apply the most recent stash. If you have multiple stashes, you can specify a specific stash using git stash apply stash@{n}, where n is the index of the stash.

Here's a full example:

bash

# Check the status of your working directory
git status

# Stash changes in a specific file
git stash push -- file-to-stash.txt

# Verify the stash
git status

# Later, when you want to apply the stash
git stash apply

By using the -- option with git stash, you can stash specific files while keeping others in your working directory intact.