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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | COMMANDS | OPTIONS | REFS | CONFIGURATION FILE | DETAILS | LIST OUTPUT FORMAT | EXAMPLES | BUGS | GIT | COLOPHON |
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GIT-WORKTREE(1) Git Manual GIT-WORKTREE(1)
git-worktree - Manage multiple working trees
git worktree add [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [--lock [--reason <string>]]
[--orphan] [(-b | -B) <new-branch>] <path> [<commit-ish>]
git worktree list [-v | --porcelain [-z]]
git worktree lock [--reason <string>] <worktree>
git worktree move <worktree> <new-path>
git worktree prune [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>]
git worktree remove [-f] <worktree>
git worktree repair [<path>...]
git worktree unlock <worktree>
Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository.
A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you
to check out more than one branch at a time. With git worktree add
a new working tree is associated with the repository, along with
additional metadata that differentiates that working tree from
others in the same repository. The working tree, along with this
metadata, is called a "worktree".
This new worktree is called a "linked worktree" as opposed to the
"main worktree" prepared by git-init(1) or git-clone(1). A
repository has one main worktree (if it’s not a bare repository)
and zero or more linked worktrees. When you are done with a linked
worktree, remove it with git worktree remove.
In its simplest form, git worktree add <path> automatically
creates a new branch whose name is the final component of <path>,
which is convenient if you plan to work on a new topic. For
instance, git worktree add ../hotfix creates new branch hotfix and
checks it out at path ../hotfix. To instead work on an existing
branch in a new worktree, use git worktree add <path> <branch>. On
the other hand, if you just plan to make some experimental changes
or do testing without disturbing existing development, it is often
convenient to create a throwaway worktree not associated with any
branch. For instance, git worktree add -d <path> creates a new
worktree with a detached HEAD at the same commit as the current
branch.
If a working tree is deleted without using git worktree remove,
then its associated administrative files, which reside in the
repository (see "DETAILS" below), will eventually be removed
automatically (see gc.worktreePruneExpire in git-config(1)), or
you can run git worktree prune in the main or any linked worktree
to clean up any stale administrative files.
If the working tree for a linked worktree is stored on a portable
device or network share which is not always mounted, you can
prevent its administrative files from being pruned by issuing the
git worktree lock command, optionally specifying --reason to
explain why the worktree is locked.
add <path> [<commit-ish>]
Create a worktree at <path> and checkout <commit-ish> into it.
The new worktree is linked to the current repository, sharing
everything except per-worktree files such as HEAD, index, etc.
As a convenience, <commit-ish> may be a bare "-", which is
synonymous with @{-1}.
If <commit-ish> is a branch name (call it <branch>) and is not
found, and neither -b nor -B nor --detach are used, but there
does exist a tracking branch in exactly one remote (call it
<remote>) with a matching name, treat as equivalent to:
$ git worktree add --track -b <branch> <path> <remote>/<branch>
If the branch exists in multiple remotes and one of them is
named by the checkout.defaultRemote configuration variable,
we’ll use that one for the purposes of disambiguation, even if
the <branch> isn’t unique across all remotes. Set it to e.g.
checkout.defaultRemote=origin to always checkout remote
branches from there if <branch> is ambiguous but exists on the
origin remote. See also checkout.defaultRemote in
git-config(1).
If <commit-ish> is omitted and neither -b nor -B nor --detach
used, then, as a convenience, the new worktree is associated
with a branch (call it <branch>) named after $(basename
<path>). If <branch> doesn’t exist, a new branch based on HEAD
is automatically created as if -b <branch> was given. If
<branch> does exist, it will be checked out in the new
worktree, if it’s not checked out anywhere else, otherwise the
command will refuse to create the worktree (unless --force is
used).
If <commit-ish> is omitted, neither --detach, or --orphan is
used, and there are no valid local branches (or remote
branches if --guess-remote is specified) then, as a
convenience, the new worktree is associated with a new unborn
branch named <branch> (after $(basename <path>) if neither -b
or -B is used) as if --orphan was passed to the command. In
the event the repository has a remote and --guess-remote is
used, but no remote or local branches exist, then the command
fails with a warning reminding the user to fetch from their
remote first (or override by using -f/--force).
list
List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed
first, followed by each of the linked worktrees. The output
details include whether the worktree is bare, the revision
currently checked out, the branch currently checked out (or
"detached HEAD" if none), "locked" if the worktree is locked,
"prunable" if the worktree can be pruned by the prune command.
lock
If a worktree is on a portable device or network share which
is not always mounted, lock it to prevent its administrative
files from being pruned automatically. This also prevents it
from being moved or deleted. Optionally, specify a reason for
the lock with --reason.
move
Move a worktree to a new location. Note that the main worktree
or linked worktrees containing submodules cannot be moved with
this command. (The git worktree repair command, however, can
reestablish the connection with linked worktrees if you move
the main worktree manually.)
prune
Prune worktree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees.
remove
Remove a worktree. Only clean worktrees (no untracked files
and no modification in tracked files) can be removed. Unclean
worktrees or ones with submodules can be removed with --force.
The main worktree cannot be removed.
repair [<path>...]
Repair worktree administrative files, if possible, if they
have become corrupted or outdated due to external factors.
For instance, if the main worktree (or bare repository) is
moved, linked worktrees will be unable to locate it. Running
repair in the main worktree will reestablish the connection
from linked worktrees back to the main worktree.
Similarly, if the working tree for a linked worktree is moved
without using git worktree move, the main worktree (or bare
repository) will be unable to locate it. Running repair within
the recently-moved worktree will reestablish the connection.
If multiple linked worktrees are moved, running repair from
any worktree with each tree’s new <path> as an argument, will
reestablish the connection to all the specified paths.
If both the main worktree and linked worktrees have been moved
or copied manually, then running repair in the main worktree
and specifying the new <path> of each linked worktree will
reestablish all connections in both directions.
unlock
Unlock a worktree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted.
-f, --force
By default, add refuses to create a new worktree when
<commit-ish> is a branch name and is already checked out by
another worktree, or if <path> is already assigned to some
worktree but is missing (for instance, if <path> was deleted
manually). This option overrides these safeguards. To add a
missing but locked worktree path, specify --force twice.
move refuses to move a locked worktree unless --force is
specified twice. If the destination is already assigned to
some other worktree but is missing (for instance, if
<new-path> was deleted manually), then --force allows the move
to proceed; use --force twice if the destination is locked.
remove refuses to remove an unclean worktree unless --force is
used. To remove a locked worktree, specify --force twice.
-b <new-branch>, -B <new-branch>
With add, create a new branch named <new-branch> starting at
<commit-ish>, and check out <new-branch> into the new
worktree. If <commit-ish> is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. By
default, -b refuses to create a new branch if it already
exists. -B overrides this safeguard, resetting <new-branch>
to <commit-ish>.
-d, --detach
With add, detach HEAD in the new worktree. See "DETACHED HEAD"
in git-checkout(1).
--[no-]checkout
By default, add checks out <commit-ish>, however,
--no-checkout can be used to suppress checkout in order to
make customizations, such as configuring sparse-checkout. See
"Sparse checkout" in git-read-tree(1).
--[no-]guess-remote
With worktree add <path>, without <commit-ish>, instead of
creating a new branch from HEAD, if there exists a tracking
branch in exactly one remote matching the basename of <path>,
base the new branch on the remote-tracking branch, and mark
the remote-tracking branch as "upstream" from the new branch.
This can also be set up as the default behaviour by using the
worktree.guessRemote config option.
--[no-]relative-paths
Link worktrees using relative paths or absolute paths
(default). Overrides the worktree.useRelativePaths config
option, see git-config(1).
With repair, the linking files will be updated if there’s an
absolute/relative mismatch, even if the links are correct.
--[no-]track
When creating a new branch, if <commit-ish> is a branch, mark
it as "upstream" from the new branch. This is the default if
<commit-ish> is a remote-tracking branch. See --track in
git-branch(1) for details.
--lock
Keep the worktree locked after creation. This is the
equivalent of git worktree lock after git worktree add, but
without a race condition.
-n, --dry-run
With prune, do not remove anything; just report what it would
remove.
--orphan
With add, make the new worktree and index empty, associating
the worktree with a new unborn branch named <new-branch>.
--porcelain
With list, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. This
format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless
of user configuration. It is recommended to combine this with
-z. See below for details.
-z
Terminate each line with a NUL rather than a newline when
--porcelain is specified with list. This makes it possible to
parse the output when a worktree path contains a newline
character.
-q, --quiet
With add, suppress feedback messages.
-v, --verbose
With prune, report all removals.
With list, output additional information about worktrees (see
below).
--expire <time>
With prune, only expire unused worktrees older than <time>.
With list, annotate missing worktrees as prunable if they are
older than <time>.
--reason <string>
With lock or with add --lock, an explanation why the worktree
is locked.
<worktree>
Worktrees can be identified by path, either relative or
absolute.
If the last path components in the worktree’s path is unique
among worktrees, it can be used to identify a worktree. For
example if you only have two worktrees, at /abc/def/ghi and
/abc/def/ggg, then ghi or def/ghi is enough to point to the
former worktree.
When using multiple worktrees, some refs are shared between all
worktrees, but others are specific to an individual worktree. One
example is HEAD, which is different for each worktree. This
section is about the sharing rules and how to access refs of one
worktree from another.
In general, all pseudo refs are per-worktree and all refs starting
with refs/ are shared. Pseudo refs are ones like HEAD which are
directly under $GIT_DIR instead of inside $GIT_DIR/refs. There are
exceptions, however: refs inside refs/bisect, refs/worktree and
refs/rewritten are not shared.
Refs that are per-worktree can still be accessed from another
worktree via two special paths, main-worktree and worktrees. The
former gives access to per-worktree refs of the main worktree,
while the latter to all linked worktrees.
For example, main-worktree/HEAD or main-worktree/refs/bisect/good
resolve to the same value as the main worktree’s HEAD and
refs/bisect/good respectively. Similarly, worktrees/foo/HEAD or
worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad are the same as
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/foo/HEAD and
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad.
To access refs, it’s best not to look inside $GIT_DIR directly.
Instead use commands such as git-rev-parse(1) or git-update-ref(1)
which will handle refs correctly.
By default, the repository config file is shared across all
worktrees. If the config variables core.bare or core.worktree are
present in the common config file and extensions.worktreeConfig is
disabled, then they will be applied to the main worktree only.
In order to have worktree-specific configuration, you can turn on
the worktreeConfig extension, e.g.:
$ git config extensions.worktreeConfig true
In this mode, specific configuration stays in the path pointed by
git rev-parse --git-path config.worktree. You can add or update
configuration in this file with git config --worktree. Older Git
versions will refuse to access repositories with this extension.
Note that in this file, the exception for core.bare and
core.worktree is gone. If they exist in $GIT_DIR/config, you must
move them to the config.worktree of the main worktree. You may
also take this opportunity to review and move other configuration
that you do not want to share to all worktrees:
• core.worktree should never be shared.
• core.bare should not be shared if the value is core.bare=true.
• core.sparseCheckout should not be shared, unless you are sure
you always use sparse checkout for all worktrees.
See the documentation of extensions.worktreeConfig in
git-config(1) for more details.
Each linked worktree has a private sub-directory in the
repository’s $GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private
sub-directory’s name is usually the base name of the linked
worktree’s path, possibly appended with a number to make it
unique. For example, when $GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git the command git
worktree add /path/other/test-next next creates the linked
worktree in /path/other/test-next and also creates a
$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next directory (or
$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1 if test-next is already taken).
Within a linked worktree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private
directory (e.g. /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next in the
example) and $GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main
worktree’s $GIT_DIR (e.g. /path/main/.git). These settings are
made in a .git file located at the top directory of the linked
worktree.
Path resolution via git rev-parse --git-path uses either $GIT_DIR
or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the
linked worktree git rev-parse --git-path HEAD returns
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD (not
/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD or /path/main/.git/HEAD) while git
rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master uses $GIT_COMMON_DIR and
returns /path/main/.git/refs/heads/master, since refs are shared
across all worktrees, except refs/bisect, refs/worktree and
refs/rewritten.
See gitrepository-layout(5) for more information. The rule of
thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs
to $GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access
something inside $GIT_DIR. Use git rev-parse --git-path to get the
final path.
If you manually move a linked worktree, you need to update the
gitdir file in the entry’s directory. For example, if a linked
worktree is moved to /newpath/test-next and its .git file points
to /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next, then update
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir to reference
/newpath/test-next instead. Better yet, run git worktree repair to
reestablish the connection automatically.
To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which can
be useful in some situations, such as when the entry’s worktree is
stored on a portable device), use the git worktree lock command,
which adds a file named locked to the entry’s directory. The file
contains the reason in plain text. For example, if a linked
worktree’s .git file points to /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next
then a file named /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked will
prevent the test-next entry from being pruned. See
gitrepository-layout(5) for details.
When extensions.worktreeConfig is enabled, the config file
.git/worktrees/<id>/config.worktree is read after .git/config is.
The worktree list command has two output formats. The default
format shows the details on a single line with columns. For
example:
$ git worktree list
/path/to/bare-source (bare)
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD)
The command also shows annotations for each worktree, according to
its state. These annotations are:
• locked, if the worktree is locked.
• prunable, if the worktree can be pruned via git worktree
prune.
$ git worktree list
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/locked-worktree acbd5678 (brancha) locked
/path/to/prunable-worktree 5678abc (detached HEAD) prunable
For these annotations, a reason might also be available and this
can be seen using the verbose mode. The annotation is then moved
to the next line indented followed by the additional information.
$ git worktree list --verbose
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/locked-worktree-no-reason abcd5678 (detached HEAD) locked
/path/to/locked-worktree-with-reason 1234abcd (brancha)
locked: worktree path is mounted on a portable device
/path/to/prunable-worktree 5678abc1 (detached HEAD)
prunable: gitdir file points to non-existent location
Note that the annotation is moved to the next line if the
additional information is available, otherwise it stays on the
same line as the worktree itself.
Porcelain Format
The porcelain format has a line per attribute. If -z is given then
the lines are terminated with NUL rather than a newline.
Attributes are listed with a label and value separated by a single
space. Boolean attributes (like bare and detached) are listed as a
label only, and are present only if the value is true. Some
attributes (like locked) can be listed as a label only or with a
value depending upon whether a reason is available. The first
attribute of a worktree is always worktree, an empty line
indicates the end of the record. For example:
$ git worktree list --porcelain
worktree /path/to/bare-source
bare
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree
HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234
branch refs/heads/master
worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree
HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a
detached
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-no-reason
HEAD 5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678c
branch refs/heads/locked-no-reason
locked
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-with-reason
HEAD 3456def3456def3456def3456def3456def3456b
branch refs/heads/locked-with-reason
locked reason why is locked
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-prunable
HEAD 1233def1234def1234def1234def1234def1234b
detached
prunable gitdir file points to non-existent location
Unless -z is used any "unusual" characters in the lock reason such
as newlines are escaped and the entire reason is quoted as
explained for the configuration variable core.quotePath (see
git-config(1)). For Example:
$ git worktree list --porcelain
...
locked "reason\nwhy is locked"
...
You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes
in and demands that you fix something immediately. You might
typically use git-stash(1) to store your changes away temporarily,
however, your working tree is in such a state of disarray (with
new, moved, and removed files, and other bits and pieces strewn
around) that you don’t want to risk disturbing any of it. Instead,
you create a temporary linked worktree to make the emergency fix,
remove it when done, and then resume your earlier refactoring
session.
$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master
$ pushd ../temp
# ... hack hack hack ...
$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss'
$ popd
$ git worktree remove ../temp
Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the
support for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to
make multiple checkouts of a superproject.
Part of the git(1) suite
This page is part of the git (Git distributed version control
system) project. Information about the project can be found at
⟨http://git-scm.com/⟩. If you have a bug report for this manual
page, see ⟨http://git-scm.com/community⟩. This page was obtained
from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/git/git.git⟩ on 2025-08-11. (At that time,
the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
repository was 2025-08-07.) If you discover any rendering
problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
(which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
[email protected]
Git 2.51.0.rc1 2025-08-07 GIT-WORKTREE(1)
Pages that refer to this page: git(1), git-checkout(1), git-config(1), git-log(1), git-maintenance(1), git-replay(1), git-rev-list(1), git-shortlog(1), git-sparse-checkout(1), git-switch(1), gitrepository-layout(5), gitglossary(7)
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HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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