Stash work and resume it safely

• Choose what goes into a stash: tracked edits, untracked files, or only what is staged.
• Explain why Apply keeps the stash and Pop removes it only after a clean apply.
• Verify that both the edit and the note came back and the branch did not move.
• Recover from a Pop conflict without losing the stash.

You are on private/stash-hint, a branch from lesson 18's result, with one commit that adds docs/stash-conflict.md ("Use a fictional address."). In your work tree you have an unfinished edit to that file and a new file, docs/signup-hint.md, that Git has never seen. Someone asks you to switch to something else, so you want both set aside, without committing half-done work.

Everything is local and on the Free plan (GitTree asks you to sign in): no hosting account, no provider, no internet. Every identity is fictional (example.com). Never run this lesson in a real project.

Make the changes in GitTree or with the native Git commands, not both in the same copy. Reading the result is always safe. The menu labels come from GitTree 2.0's own strings and the native commands were run with Git 2.43 in disposable copies. The GitTree steps were not run on macOS, Windows or Linux.

Stash stores your local changes as Git objects and then cleans the work tree back to the last commit. It is a short interruption tool, not a backup and not a replacement for a branch you want to keep.

A stash holds tracked edits by default. Untracked files are left behind unless you ask for them, which Git does with --include-untracked. GitTree's Stash Changes… dialog has Include untracked files switched on when it opens; check it anyway. Ignored files are a different category and are not stashed here. Only staged changes stashes just what is in the index, and Keep staged changes in place too leaves the index as it was.

Apply Stash puts the changes back and keeps the stash in the list. Pop Stash applies it and removes the entry only if the apply was clean. If it conflicts, the stash stays, and you resolve the conflict in the work tree. GitTree's Apply and Pop do not restore the staged state; git stash apply --index does that, but the app does not use it, so staged edits come back unstaged.

Stashing and applying never move the branch or make a commit. Only the work tree and a stash entry change.

Start from a separate ordinary copy of the project as lesson 18 left it and leave your original gittree-features untouched. Create the branch, save DOC_STASH_BASE and commit it. Then save DOC_STASH_WORK over the same file and DOC_HINT as a new file, without staging either. DOC_STASH_OTHER and STASH_RESOLVED are used only in the separate conflict copy.

Save only at the phase named below. These are full UTF-8/LF bodies with a final newline; never paste Markdown fences. Unchanged runnable files inherit the named input. Versions in separate variants must not overwrite the original.

docs/stash-conflict.md — DOC_STASH_BASE

Use a fictional address.

docs/stash-conflict.md — DOC_STASH_WORK

Use a complete fictional email address.

docs/signup-hint.md — DOC_HINT

Unfinished signup hint: use fictional data only.

docs/stash-conflict.md — DOC_STASH_OTHER

Do not send the address anywhere.

docs/stash-conflict.md — STASH_RESOLVED

Use a complete fictional email address. Nothing is sent.

Open the palette with Command+Shift+P (Ctrl+Shift+P on Ubuntu). Stash entries are listed in the left panel under Stashes; a stash's actions are in its right-click menu.

1. Build the branch and the two unstaged changes as the next section shows. Read the changes list: docs/stash-conflict.md is modified and docs/signup-hint.md is new.
2. Open the palette and run Stash Changes…. In the dialog set Message to signup hint rehearsal. Only staged changes is off. Include untracked files is on. Keep staged changes in place too is off. Choose Stash.
3. Wait for the notice "Stashed your changes." The changes list is empty, the note is gone from disk and the stash appears under Stashes.
4. Hover the stash row: its tooltip says "Includes untracked files". Right-click it and choose Show Stash: the graph selects the stash and the right panel lists its tracked change, docs/stash-conflict.md. The untracked note is kept in a separate part of the stash.
5. Right-click it again and choose Apply Stash. The notice says "Applied the stash; it is still in the list."
6. Check the result: docs/stash-conflict.md is modified again, docs/signup-hint.md is back as an untracked file, the branch tip is the same commit and the stash is still listed.
7. Separate conflict copy. In a second copy, after the stash, commit DOC_STASH_OTHER to the same file. Right-click the stash and choose Pop Stash. The warning says "The stash conflicts with your changes: resolve the conflicts. The stash is kept."
8. The conflicted file is listed with Conflicted. Open it, write STASH_RESOLVED in the output and choose Save and Mark Resolved. The stash is still there. When you are sure the work is safe, right-click it and choose Delete Stash…; the dialog says it is removed from the list and kept in the recovery snapshots. GitTree's Undo does not restore a deleted stash yet (lesson 30), so treat deleting as final.

For every ordinary commit in the course: Summary is the stated subject, Description is empty and the options Amend Previous Commit, Skip Hooks, Add Signed-off-by, Different Author, Push After Commit and Allow Empty Commit stay off.

In a separate copy of lesson 18's result:

git switch --create private/stash-hint

Save DOC_STASH_BASE as docs/stash-conflict.md, then:

git add -- docs/stash-conflict.md
git commit --quiet -m "docs: establish the stash conflict baseline"

Save DOC_STASH_WORK over docs/stash-conflict.md and DOC_HINT as docs/signup-hint.md, without staging. Then stash both:

git stash push --include-untracked --message "signup hint rehearsal"
git status --short
git stash list --format=%s

On private/stash-hint: signup hint rehearsal

The status prints nothing: the tree is clean. Keep an untouched copy of this state for the conflict, then apply:

git stash apply 'stash@{0}'
git status --short
git stash list --format=%s
git rev-parse HEAD

 M docs/stash-conflict.md
?? docs/signup-hint.md
On private/stash-hint: signup hint rehearsal

Both bodies are back, the stash is still listed and HEAD is the commit it was. Without --include-untracked, the same push leaves docs/signup-hint.md on disk and stashes only the edit.

In the separate copy, save DOC_STASH_OTHER and commit it, then pop:

git add -- docs/stash-conflict.md
git commit --quiet -m "docs: change the stash target"
git stash pop 'stash@{0}'
git ls-files --unmerged
git stash list --format=%s

Pop exits with 1 and prints "CONFLICT (content)" and "The stash entry is kept in case you need it again." Three unmerged entries are listed, the file holds conflict markers, docs/signup-hint.md is restored, and the stash is still listed. There is no merge or rebase to continue: save STASH_RESOLVED and run git add -- docs/stash-conflict.md. To park the work on its own branch instead, git stash branch rescue-hint 'stash@{0}' creates the branch at the commit where the stash was made, applies it, and removes the stash only then.

Where you end: in the first copy the tree has the edit and the note again, HEAD has not moved, and the stash is still listed. In the conflict copy Pop reported the conflict, the stash survived, and your resolution is staged. No commit was made by any stash command, and nothing was pushed.

• Forgetting that untracked files are not stashed unless you include them.
• Assuming Pop deleted the stash after a conflict. It did not.
• Applying twice when the first apply already worked, then wondering about duplicate changes.
• Using a stash as a long-term store. Name useful work with a branch.

After a Pop conflict, leave the stash in place, resolve the file, and check the result before you delete anything. If you applied to the wrong branch, discard that work only after you have confirmed the stash still holds it. Create Branch from Stash… gives the stash its own branch at the commit where it was made.

Answer each question, then read why. Questions marked “Required” count toward completing the lesson.

1. Question 1 of 6

   Question 1 of 6

   What does Pop Stash do that Apply Stash does not?

   Choose one answer.

   It removes the stash entry, but only when the apply was clean.

   It restores the staged state as well.

   It commits the stashed changes.

   It moves the branch to the commit where the stash was made.

   Check answer
2. Question 2 of 6

   Question 2 of 6

   You run Stash Changes… with Include untracked files on. Which of these are true?

   Choose every answer that applies.

   Ignored files are stashed as well.

   The new, never-seen note goes into the stash too.

   The work tree goes back to the last commit.

   The edit to the tracked file goes into the stash.

   Check answer
3. Question 3 of 6

   Question 3 of 6Required

   After the stash you choose Apply Stash on it. What do you see?

   Choose one answer.

   Only the edit is back; the note stays in the stash.

   A new commit holds the restored changes.

   The edit is back and the stash is gone.

   The edit and the note are back, the branch tip is unchanged and the stash is still listed.

   Check answer
4. Question 4 of 6

   Question 4 of 6

   Change the input: in a copy, switch Include untracked files off before you stash. What happens to docs/signup-hint.md?

   Choose one answer.

   It stays on disk as an untracked file, and the stash holds only the edit.

   It is stashed anyway.

   Git deletes it.

   The stash is refused.

   Check answer
5. Question 5 of 6

   Question 5 of 6Required

   In the conflict copy, Pop Stash warns: "The stash conflicts with your changes: resolve the conflicts. The stash is kept." You worry the work is gone. What is true and what do you do?

   Choose one answer.

   Use a hard reset to start over.

   The stash is still listed. Resolve and mark the file resolved, check the result, and delete the stash only when you are sure.

   Run Pop again at once.

   Delete the stash now to clean up.

   Check answer
6. Question 6 of 6

   Question 6 of 6Required

   After Apply Stash in the first copy, which readbacks show it worked as the lesson says?

   Choose every answer that applies.

   git stash list --format=%s still prints "On private/stash-hint: signup hint rehearsal".

   git rev-parse HEAD equals the ID you noted before stashing.

   git status --short shows the edit to docs/stash-conflict.md and docs/signup-hint.md as untracked.

   git ls-files --unmerged lists three entries.

   Check answer

Prove the tree was clean after the stash, that Apply restored both files, and that the stash is still listed. Predict what would differ if Include untracked files were off. In the conflict copy, prove the stash survived the Pop.

• Choose the stash options on purpose.
• Apply keeps the entry.
• A conflicting Pop keeps it too.

• Stage the intended snapshot and make your first commit (lesson 5)
• Resolve merge and rebase conflicts (lesson 23)
• Download GitTree

Stash — مخبأ; apply — تطبيق; pop — تطبيق وحذف; untracked — غير متتبَّع.