{"meta":{"title":"Checking out a commit in GitHub Desktop","intro":"You can use GitHub Desktop to checkout a previous commit in your repository.","product":"GitHub Desktop","breadcrumbs":[{"href":"/en/enterprise-server@3.19/desktop","title":"GitHub Desktop"},{"href":"/en/enterprise-server@3.19/desktop/managing-commits","title":"Managing commits"},{"href":"/en/enterprise-server@3.19/desktop/managing-commits/checking-out-a-commit-in-github-desktop","title":"Checking out a commit"}],"documentType":"article"},"body":"# Checking out a commit in GitHub Desktop\n\nYou can use GitHub Desktop to checkout a previous commit in your repository.\n\n## About checking out a commit\n\nChecking out a commit allows you to view your repository in a previous state without needing to create a new branch or modify an existing branch. This can be helpful when debugging since it allows you to see if a bug exists in your repository at a previous commit.\n\nChecking out a commit puts your repository in a \"detached HEAD\" state. In Git terminology \"HEAD\" is the reference that points to the tip, or latest commit, of a named branch in your repository. A \"detached HEAD\" state means that HEAD refers to a specific commit, but not on a named branch in your repository.\n\n> \\[!NOTE]\n> Any commits made in a \"detached HEAD\" state will be lost when switching branches, since these commits have not been made on a named branch. If you need to recover the lost commits, see [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting).\n\n## Checking out a commit\n\n1. In the left sidebar, click **History**.\n\n ![Screenshot of the \"History\" tab in the sidebar. Above a list of commits, the tab button, labeled \"History\", is highlighted with an orange outline.](/assets/images/help/desktop/history-tab-in-commit-sidebar.png)\n2. Right-click on the commit you would like to checkout and select **Checkout commit**.\n ![Screenshot of a list of commits in the \"History\" tab. Next to a commit, in a context menu, the \"Checkout Commit\" option is outlined in orange.](/assets/images/help/desktop/checkout-commit.png)\n3. The ** Current Branch** item in the repository bar will now show \"Detached HEAD\", along with the SHA of the commit that was checked out.\n ![Screenshot of the repository bar. The \"Current Branch\" item shows a \"Detached HEAD\" state and is highlighted with an orange outline.](/assets/images/help/desktop/branch-item.png)\n4. To exit the \"detached HEAD\" state you will need to switch branches. For more information, see [Managing branches in GitHub Desktop](/en/desktop/making-changes-in-a-branch/managing-branches-in-github-desktop#switching-between-branches).\n\n## Troubleshooting\n\nYou can recover commits that have been made in a \"detached HEAD\" state using the `git reflog` command from the Git command line. You can open your repository in the command line from GitHub Desktop by going to the menu bar, selecting **Repository**, and clicking **Open in command line**.\n\nThe `git reflog` command will show the output of events that have happened in your repository, including commits. Here is a sample output of the `git reflog` command:\n\n```shell\n81fa9136f8 (HEAD -> main) HEAD@{0}: checkout: moving from 8bd5e736a27a52a7e36a856b30e6f0582d341aa1 to main\n8bd5e736a2 HEAD@{1}: commit: testing out a feature\n22fa76c125 HEAD@{2}: checkout: moving from main to 22fa76c1250a2847305b9325752d941dbaa55983\n```\n\nThe `8bd5e736a2 HEAD@{1}: commit: testing out a feature` line is the commit that we want to recover, since it was made while the repository was in a \"detached HEAD\" state. To recover it you can run `git cherry-pick 8bd5e736a2` to apply the commit to the current branch in your repository.\n\n## Further reading\n\n* [Detached HEAD](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout#_detached_head) in the Git documentation\n* [Git cherry-pick](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-cherry-pick) in the Git documentation"}