git reflog
Shares rank 6 of 9 version control features by recommenders
People recommend it as a safety net for recovering from mistakes, since it records where branches and references pointed, including after rebases and force-pushes.
People recommend it as a safety net for recovering from mistakes, since it records where branches and references pointed, including after rebases and force-pushes.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Recovers from mistakes and force-pushes
“git reflog is your "backup". it contains every commit and the resulting log (DAG) going back 90 days.”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “Backblaze has stopped backing up your data” “You can recover from almost any mistake, including force-pushed branches.”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “Backblaze has stopped backing up your data” “No need for that even. Just git reflog and rewind back to any spot your want!”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “The Git history command deserves more attention” - Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Git rebase -I is not that scary”
Tracks branch and reference history
“The reflog stores information about operations that updates branches and other references”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “GitHub Stacked PRs” “the reflog does that for you automatically”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “The Git history command deserves more attention” “The branch reflog (git reflog or git log -g ) is a lot easier to follow in the case of rebase”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “The Git history command deserves more attention” - Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “Git Rebase for the Terrified”
Saved people stress during rebases
“git reflog is probably the Git command that has saved me the most stress.”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “The Git history command deserves more attention” “git-reflog(1) is the most general solution if you will ever need.”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Git rebase -I is not that scary”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hard to search than history tools
“But it's at best much harder to find stuff in the reflog than to simply use git's history browsing tools.”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “Git Rebase for the Terrified” Hard to pick the right commit
“I find it still hard to understand exactly which commit to reset to in the reflog”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “The Git history command deserves more attention” Annoying to use
“well git reflog is that, annoying, yes”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “Git Rebase for the Terrified”
Other version control features people recommend
The four most recommended other version control features, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Git worktree | 58 | 21 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| git rebase | 24 | 13 | 65% | 9 | — | — |
| git rerere | 19 | 4 | 83% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Git submodules | 14 | 13 | 52% | 7 | — | — |
| git reflogThis page | 11 | 3 | 79% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“git-reflog(1) is the most general solution if you will ever need.”
“learn how to use ‘git reflog’ to see what you’ve done and how to undo/redo it”
“the reflog does that for you automatically”
“The branch reflog (git reflog or git log -g ) is a lot easier to follow in the case of rebase”
“git reflog is probably the Git command that has saved me the most stress.”
“I find it still hard to understand exactly which commit to reset to in the reflog”
“No need for that even. Just git reflog and rewind back to any spot your want!”
“git reflog is your "backup". it contains every commit and the resulting log (DAG) going back 90 days.”
“You can recover from almost any mistake, including force-pushed branches.”
“The reflog stores information about operations that updates branches and other references”
“"What's the state of my never-rebased branch at time X" is a trivial question to answer. Yes, but only because of reflog.”
“well git reflog is that, annoying, yes”
“But it's at best much harder to find stuff in the reflog than to simply use git's history browsing tools.”
“git reflog is a good starting point”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.