Why staging before committing matters in Git - Why It Works

Introduction

When you make changes to files in a project, you often want to choose which changes to save permanently. Staging lets you pick exactly what to include before saving it with a commit. This helps keep your project history clean and organized.

When you have multiple changes but want to save only some of them in a commit

When you want to review changes before saving them permanently

When you want to group related changes together in separate commits

When you want to avoid committing temporary or experimental edits

When you want to prepare a commit step-by-step instead of all at once

Commands

Check which files have changes and which are staged or unstaged. This helps you see what is ready to be committed.

Terminal

git status

Expected Output

On branch main

Changes not staged for commit:

  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)

  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)



	modified:   example.txt



no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

Stage the changes in example.txt so they will be included in the next commit. This lets you control exactly what to save.

Terminal

git add example.txt

Expected Output

No output (command runs silently)

Verify that example.txt is now staged and ready to be committed.

Terminal

git status

Expected Output

On branch main

Changes to be committed:

  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)



	modified:   example.txt

Create a commit with the staged changes and a message describing what was done. This saves your work permanently in the project history.

Terminal

git commit -m "Update example.txt with new info"

Expected Output

[main abc1234] Update example.txt with new info

 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

→

-m - Add a commit message inline without opening an editor

Key Concept

Staging lets you choose exactly which changes to save in a commit, keeping your project history clear and organized.

Common Mistakes

Committing without staging first using 'git commit -a' or no staging

This commits all changes automatically, which can include unwanted edits and makes history messy.

Use 'git add' to stage only the changes you want before committing.

Not checking 'git status' before committing

You might commit incomplete or wrong files without realizing it.

Always run 'git status' to review staged and unstaged changes before committing.

Summary

Use 'git add' to stage specific changes before committing.

Check 'git status' to see what is staged and unstaged.

Commit only staged changes with 'git commit' to keep history clean.