How to List Stashes in Git: Simple Commands Explained

Use the git stash list command to see all your saved stashes in Git. This shows a list of stash entries with their names and messages.

Syntax

The basic command to list all stashes is git stash list. It shows each stash with an identifier and a message.

• git stash: The main command for stash operations.
• list: The action to display all saved stashes.

bash

git stash list

Example

This example shows how to create a stash and then list all stashes to see it.

bash

git stash push -m "work in progress"
git stash list

Output

stash@{0}: On main: work in progress

Common Pitfalls

Sometimes users expect git stash list to show detailed file changes, but it only shows stash names and messages. To see details, use git stash show with the stash name.

Also, forgetting to create a stash before listing will show an empty list.

bash

git stash list
# Shows stash names only

git stash show stash@{0}
# Shows changes in the first stash

Quick Reference

Command	Description
git stash list	List all saved stashes with names and messages
git stash show stash@{n}	Show changes in a specific stash
git stash push -m "message"	Create a new stash with a message
git stash pop	Apply and remove the latest stash

Key Takeaways

Use git stash list to see all your saved stashes with their names.

Stash entries are shown as stash@{n} with a message describing the changes.

To see what changes a stash contains, use git stash show with the stash name.

If no stashes exist, git stash list will show nothing.

Always create a stash first before trying to list it.