Managing branches in GitHub Desktop

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You can use GitHub Desktop to create a new branch off of an existing branch in your repository so you can safely experiment with changes.

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About managing branches

You can use branches to safely experiment with changes to your project. Branches isolate your development work from other branches in the repository. For example, you could use a branch to develop a new feature or fix a bug.

You always create a branch from an existing branch. Typically, you might create a branch from the default branch of your repository. You can then work on this new branch in isolation from changes that other people are making to the repository.

You can also create a branch starting from a previous commit in a branch's history. This can be helpful if you need to return to an earlier view of the repository to investigate a bug, or to create a hot fix on top of your latest release.

Once you're satisfied with your work, you can create a pull request to merge your changes in the current branch into another branch. For more information, see "Creating an issue or pull request from GitHub Desktop" and "关于拉取请求."

You can always create a branch in GitHub Desktop if you have read access to a repository, but you can only push the branch to GitHub if you have write access to the repository.

仓库管理员可对分支启用保护。 如果您处理的是受保护分支，将无法删除或强制推送到该分支。 在分支可以合并之前，仓库管理员可以另外启用其他受保护分支设置来实施特定的工作流程。 有关详细信息，请参阅“关于受保护分支”。

Repository administrators can also enable rulesets. Rulesets can be used to require specific branch names when creating a new branch, or to allow only users with bypass permissions to publish a new branch to the remote repository. GitHub Desktop will show a warning and prevent the branch from being created if the branch does not follow the rulesets. For more information, see "关于规则集."

Creating a branch

Tip: The first new branch you create will be based on the default branch. If you have more than one branch, you can choose to base the new branch on the currently checked out branch or the default branch.

  1. 在应用顶部，单击 “当前分支”，然后在分支列表中单击要将新分支作为基础的分支。

    “当前分支”下拉列表视图的屏幕截图。 在“最近使用的分支”下，名为“my-feature”的分支以橙色轮廓突出显示。

  2. 单击“新建分支”。

    Screenshot of the "Current Branch" dropdown view. Next to the "Filter" field, a button, labeled "New Branch", is outlined in orange.

  3. 在“创建分支”窗口的“名称”下，键入新分支的名称。

  4. 在“基于以下内容创建分支...”下，为新分支选择一个基础分支。

  5. 单击“创建分支”。

Creating a branch from a previous commit

  1. 在左边栏中，单击“历史记录”。

    边栏中“历史记录”选项卡的屏幕截图。 在提交列表上方，标有“历史记录”的选项卡按钮以橙色轮廓突出显示。

  2. Right-click on the commit you would like to create a new branch from and select Create Branch from Commit.

    Screenshot of a list of commits in the "History" tab. Next to a commit, in a context menu, the cursor hovers over the "Create Branch from Commit" option.

  3. 在“创建分支”窗口的“名称”下，键入新分支的名称。

  4. 单击“创建分支”。

Publishing a branch

If you create a branch on GitHub, you'll need to publish the branch to make it available for collaboration on GitHub.

  1. In the repository bar, click Current Branch, then click the branch that you want to publish. Screenshot of the "Current Branch" dropdown view. Under "Recent Branches", a branch, named "my-feature", is highlighted with an orange outline.
  2. Click Publish branch. Screenshot of the repository bar. On the right-hand side, a button, labeled "Publish branch", is highlighted with an orange outline.

Switching between branches

You can view and make commits to any of your repository's branches. If you have uncommitted, saved changes, you'll need to decide what to do with your changes before you can switch branches. You can commit your changes on the current branch, stash your changes to temporarily save them on the current branch, or bring the changes to your new branch. If you want to commit your changes before switching branches, see "Committing and reviewing changes to your project in GitHub Desktop."

Tip: You can set a default behavior for switching branches in the Advanced settings. For more information, see "Configuring basic settings in GitHub Desktop."

  1. In the repository bar, click Current Branch, then click the branch that you want to switch to. Screenshot of the "Current Branch" dropdown view. Under "Recent Branches", a branch, named "my-feature", is highlighted with an orange outline.
  2. If you have saved, uncommitted changes, in the "Switch Branch" window, select Leave my changes on CURRENT-BRANCH or Bring my changes to NEW-BRANCH, then click Switch Branch.

Deleting a branch

You can't delete a branch if it's currently associated with an open pull request. You cannot undo deleting a branch.

  1. 在存储库栏，单击 “当前分支”，然后单击要删除的分支。 “Current Branch”下拉列表视图的屏幕截图。 在“最近使用的分支”下，名为“my-feature”的分支以橙色轮廓突出显示。
  2. 在菜单栏中，单击“分支”，然后单击“删除...”。还可按Shift+命令+D 。 Screenshot of the menu bar on a Mac. In the expanded "Branch" dropdown menu, the cursor hovers over the "Delete" option, highlighted in blue.
  1. 在存储库栏，单击 “当前分支”，然后单击要删除的分支。 “Current Branch”下拉列表视图的屏幕截图。 在“最近使用的分支”下，名为“my-feature”的分支以橙色轮廓突出显示。
  2. 在菜单栏中，单击“分支”，然后单击“删除...” 。还可按 Ctrl+Shift+D。 Screenshot of the "GitHub Desktop" menu bar on Windows. In the expanded "Branch" dropdown menu, an option labeled "Delete" is outlined in orange.

Further reading