git cherry-pick

cherry-pick applies a specific commit (or range of commits) to the current branch, creating a new commit with the same changes but a different hash.

Basic Usage

# Apply a specific commit to the current branch
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Apply multiple commits
git cherry-pick abc1234 def5678

# Apply a range of commits (exclusive..inclusive)
git cherry-pick abc1234..ghi9012

Common Use Cases

Backport a Bug Fix to an Older Release

# Bug fixed on main
git log --oneline main
# abc1234 Fix null pointer in payment processor
# ...

# Apply the fix to the v2 release branch
git switch release/v2.0
git cherry-pick abc1234

Apply a Commit That Went to the Wrong Branch

# Accidentally committed to main instead of feature branch
git log --oneline main
# def5678 Add experimental feature
# ...

# Move it to the feature branch
git switch feature/experimental
git cherry-pick def5678

# Remove from main (if it wasn't pushed yet)
git switch main
git reset --hard HEAD~1

Pull a Single Fix Without Merging an Entire Branch

# Colleague has a large branch with one critical fix you need now
git cherry-pick abc1234   # just the fix, not the whole branch

Cherry-Pick Options

# Apply but don't commit (leave changes staged)
git cherry-pick -n abc1234
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc1234

# Cherry-pick and edit the commit message
git cherry-pick -e abc1234

# Add "cherry picked from commit..." to message
git cherry-pick -x abc1234

# Continue after resolving conflicts
git cherry-pick --continue

# Abort cherry-pick in progress
git cherry-pick --abort

# Skip a conflicting commit and continue with the rest
git cherry-pick --skip

Handling Conflicts

git cherry-pick abc1234
# CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/payment.ts
# error: could not apply abc1234...

# 1. Open the conflicting file and resolve conflicts
# 2. Stage the resolved file
git add src/payment.ts

# 3. Continue
git cherry-pick --continue

Cherry-Picking Merge Commits

Merge commits have two parents. You must specify which parent represents the mainline:

git cherry-pick -m 1 abc1234   # mainline is parent 1 (usually the branch you merged into)

When NOT to Cherry-Pick

Cherry-pick creates a duplicate commit (same changes, different hash). If the original branch is eventually merged, you’ll have the same changes twice — which can cause confusing conflicts.

Prefer cherry-pick for:

Specific bug fixes needed on release branches
Emergency hotfixes
One-off commits that won’t be merged

Avoid cherry-pick when:

The whole feature will eventually be merged (just wait for the merge)
You need many commits from a branch (merge or rebase instead)

Viewing Cherry-Pick Status

# See if a commit has been cherry-picked to another branch
git log --oneline main | grep "cherry picked from commit abc1234"

# Or use git log with --cherry-mark to see symmetric differences
git log --cherry-mark --oneline main...release/v2.0