How to Use git diff staged to See Changes Ready to Commit

Use git diff --staged or git diff --cached to see the differences between the staged files and the last commit. This shows what changes are ready to be committed.

Syntax

The command git diff --staged compares the staged changes with the last commit. You can also use git diff --cached as an alias. This helps you review what you have added to the staging area before committing.

• git diff: Shows unstaged changes.
• git diff --staged: Shows staged changes.
• git diff --cached: Same as --staged.

bash

git diff --staged

Example

This example shows how to stage a file and then use git diff --staged to see the changes ready to commit.

bash

echo 'Hello World' > file.txt
# Stage the file
git add file.txt
# Show staged changes
git diff --staged

Output

diff --git a/file.txt b/file.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/file.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Hello World

Common Pitfalls

One common mistake is using git diff without --staged, which only shows unstaged changes. Another is confusing git diff --staged with git status, which shows file states but not detailed line changes.

Always remember:

• git diff = unstaged changes
• git diff --staged = staged changes

bash

git diff
# shows unstaged changes, not staged

git diff --staged
# shows staged changes ready to commit

Quick Reference

Command	Description
git diff	Show unstaged changes in working directory
git diff --staged	Show staged changes ready to commit
git diff --cached	Alias for --staged
git status	Show file states but not detailed diffs

Key Takeaways

Use git diff --staged to see changes added to the staging area.

Remember git diff shows unstaged changes only.

git diff --cached is the same as --staged.

Review staged changes before committing to avoid mistakes.

git status shows file states but not detailed line differences.