git-worktree(1) Git Manual git-worktree(1)
NAME
git-worktree - Manage multiple working trees
SYNOPSIS
git worktree add [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [--lock [--reason <string>]]
[--orphan] [(-b | -B) <new-branch>] <path> [<commit-ish>]
git worktree list [-v | --porcelain [-z]]
git worktree lock [--reason <string>] <worktree>
git worktree move <worktree> <new-path>
git worktree prune [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>]
git worktree remove [-f] <worktree>
git worktree repair [<path>...]
git worktree unlock <worktree>
DESCRIPTION
Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository.
A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to
check out more than one branch at a time. With git worktree add a new
working tree is associated with the repository, along with additional
metadata that differentiates that working tree from others in the same
repository. The working tree, along with this metadata, is called a
"worktree".
This new worktree is called a "linked worktree" as opposed to the "main
worktree" prepared by git-init(1) or git-clone(1). A repository has one
main worktree (if it's not a bare repository) and zero or more linked
worktrees. When you are done with a linked worktree, remove it with git
worktree remove.
In its simplest form, git worktree add <path> automatically creates a new
branch whose name is the final component of <path>, which is convenient
if you plan to work on a new topic. For instance, git worktree add
../hotfix creates new branch hotfix and checks it out at path ../hotfix.
To instead work on an existing branch in a new worktree, use git worktree
add <path> <branch>. On the other hand, if you just plan to make some
experimental changes or do testing without disturbing existing
development, it is often convenient to create a throwaway worktree not
associated with any branch. For instance, git worktree add -d <path>
creates a new worktree with a detached HEAD at the same commit as the
current branch.
If a working tree is deleted without using git worktree remove, then its
associated administrative files, which reside in the repository (see
"DETAILS" below), will eventually be removed automatically (see
gc.worktreePruneExpire in git-config(1)), or you can run git worktree
prune in the main or any linked worktree to clean up any stale
administrative files.
If the working tree for a linked worktree is stored on a portable device
or network share which is not always mounted, you can prevent its
administrative files from being pruned by issuing the git worktree lock
command, optionally specifying --reason to explain why the worktree is
locked.
COMMANDS
add <path> [<commit-ish>]
Create a worktree at <path> and checkout <commit-ish> into it. The
new worktree is linked to the current repository, sharing everything
except per-worktree files such as HEAD, index, etc. As a convenience,
<commit-ish> may be a bare "-", which is synonymous with @{-1}.
If <commit-ish> is a branch name (call it <branch>) and is not found,
and neither -b nor -B nor --detach are used, but there does exist a
tracking branch in exactly one remote (call it <remote>) with a
matching name, treat as equivalent to:
$ git worktree add --track -b <branch> <path> <remote>/<branch>
If the branch exists in multiple remotes and one of them is named by
the checkout.defaultRemote configuration variable, we'll use that one
for the purposes of disambiguation, even if the <branch> isn't unique
across all remotes. Set it to e.g. checkout.defaultRemote=origin to
always checkout remote branches from there if <branch> is ambiguous
but exists on the origin remote. See also checkout.defaultRemote in
git-config(1).
If <commit-ish> is omitted and neither -b nor -B nor --detach used,
then, as a convenience, the new worktree is associated with a branch
(call it <branch>) named after $(basename <path>). If <branch>
doesn't exist, a new branch based on HEAD is automatically created as
if -b <branch> was given. If <branch> does exist, it will be checked
out in the new worktree, if it's not checked out anywhere else,
otherwise the command will refuse to create the worktree (unless
--force is used).
If <commit-ish> is omitted, neither --detach, or --orphan is used,
and there are no valid local branches (or remote branches if
--guess-remote is specified) then, as a convenience, the new worktree
is associated with a new unborn branch named <branch> (after
$(basename <path>) if neither -b or -B is used) as if --orphan was
passed to the command. In the event the repository has a remote and
--guess-remote is used, but no remote or local branches exist, then
the command fails with a warning reminding the user to fetch from
their remote first (or override by using -f/--force).
list
List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed first,
followed by each of the linked worktrees. The output details include
whether the worktree is bare, the revision currently checked out, the
branch currently checked out (or "detached HEAD" if none), "locked"
if the worktree is locked, "prunable" if the worktree can be pruned
by the prune command.
lock
If a worktree is on a portable device or network share which is not
always mounted, lock it to prevent its administrative files from
being pruned automatically. This also prevents it from being moved or
deleted. Optionally, specify a reason for the lock with --reason.
move
Move a worktree to a new location. Note that the main worktree or
linked worktrees containing submodules cannot be moved with this
command. (The git worktree repair command, however, can reestablish
the connection with linked worktrees if you move the main worktree
manually.)
prune
Remove worktree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees for worktrees whose
working trees are missing. Useful after manually removing a working
tree that is no longer needed (but use "git worktree remove" next
time you want to do so). Also, if you moved a working tree elsewhere
causing the worktree information to become dangling, see "git
worktree repair" to reconnect the worktree to the new working tree
location.
remove
Remove a worktree. Only clean worktrees (no untracked files and no
modification in tracked files) can be removed. Unclean worktrees or
ones with submodules can be removed with --force. The main worktree
cannot be removed.
repair [<path>...]
Repair worktree administrative files, if possible, if they have
become corrupted or outdated due to external factors.
For instance, if the main worktree (or bare repository) is moved,
linked worktrees will be unable to locate it. Running repair in the
main worktree will reestablish the connection from linked worktrees
back to the main worktree.
Similarly, if the working tree for a linked worktree is moved without
using git worktree move, the main worktree (or bare repository) will
be unable to locate it. Running repair within the recently-moved
worktree will reestablish the connection. If multiple linked
worktrees are moved, running repair from any worktree with each
tree's new <path> as an argument, will reestablish the connection to
all the specified paths.
If both the main worktree and linked worktrees have been moved or
copied manually, then running repair in the main worktree and
specifying the new <path> of each linked worktree will reestablish
all connections in both directions.
unlock
Unlock a worktree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted.
OPTIONS
-f, --force
By default, add refuses to create a new worktree when <commit-ish> is
a branch name and is already checked out by another worktree, or if
<path> is already assigned to some worktree but is missing (for
instance, if <path> was deleted manually). This option overrides
these safeguards. To add a missing but locked worktree path, specify
--force twice.
move refuses to move a locked worktree unless --force is specified
twice. If the destination is already assigned to some other worktree
but is missing (for instance, if <new-path> was deleted manually),
then --force allows the move to proceed; use --force twice if the
destination is locked.
remove refuses to remove an unclean worktree unless --force is used.
To remove a locked worktree, specify --force twice.
-b <new-branch>, -B <new-branch>
With add, create a new branch named <new-branch> starting at
<commit-ish>, and check out <new-branch> into the new worktree. If
<commit-ish> is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. By default, -b refuses
to create a new branch if it already exists. -B overrides this
safeguard, resetting <new-branch> to <commit-ish>.
-d, --detach
With add, detach HEAD in the new worktree. See "DETACHED HEAD" in
git-checkout(1).
--checkout, --no-checkout
By default, add checks out <commit-ish>, however, --no-checkout can
be used to suppress checkout in order to make customizations, such as
configuring sparse-checkout. See "Sparse checkout" in git-read-
tree(1).
--guess-remote, --no-guess-remote
With worktree add <path>, without <commit-ish>, instead of creating a
new branch from HEAD, if there exists a tracking branch in exactly
one remote matching the basename of <path>, base the new branch on
the remote-tracking branch, and mark the remote-tracking branch as
"upstream" from the new branch. If there are multiple matches, the
command fails. If there is no match, the command falls back to
creating a new branch from HEAD.
This can also be set up as the default behaviour by using the
worktree.guessRemote config option.
--relative-paths, --no-relative-paths
Link worktrees using relative paths or absolute paths (default).
Overrides the worktree.useRelativePaths config option, see git-
config(1).
With repair, the linking files will be updated if there's an
absolute/relative mismatch, even if the links are correct.
--track, --no-track
When creating a new branch, if <commit-ish> is a branch, mark it as
"upstream" from the new branch. This is the default if <commit-ish>
is a remote-tracking branch. See --track in git-branch(1) for
details.
--lock
Keep the worktree locked after creation. This is the equivalent of
git worktree lock after git worktree add, but without a race
condition.
-n, --dry-run
With prune, do not remove anything; just report what it would remove.
--orphan
With add, make the new worktree and index empty, associating the
worktree with a new unborn branch named <new-branch>.
--porcelain
With list, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. This format
will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of user
configuration. It is recommended to combine this with -z. See below
for details.
-z
Terminate each line with a NUL rather than a newline when --porcelain
is specified with list. This makes it possible to parse the output
when a worktree path contains a newline character.
-q, --quiet
With add, suppress feedback messages.
-v, --verbose
With prune, report all removals.
With list, output additional information about worktrees (see below).
--expire <time>
With prune, only prune missing worktrees if older than <time>.
With list, annotate missing worktrees as prunable if they are older
than <time>.
--reason <string>
With lock or with add --lock, an explanation why the worktree is
locked.
<worktree>
Worktrees can be identified by path, either relative or absolute.
If the last path components in the worktree's path is unique among
worktrees, it can be used to identify a worktree. For example if you
only have two worktrees, at /abc/def/ghi and /abc/def/ggg, then ghi
or def/ghi is enough to point to the former worktree.
REFS
When using multiple worktrees, some refs are shared between all
worktrees, but others are specific to an individual worktree. One example
is HEAD, which is different for each worktree. This section is about the
sharing rules and how to access refs of one worktree from another.
In general, all pseudo refs are per-worktree and all refs starting with
refs/ are shared. Pseudo refs are ones like HEAD which are directly under
$GIT_DIR instead of inside $GIT_DIR/refs. There are exceptions, however:
refs inside refs/bisect, refs/worktree and refs/rewritten are not shared.
Refs that are per-worktree can still be accessed from another worktree
via two special paths, main-worktree and worktrees. The former gives
access to per-worktree refs of the main worktree, while the latter to all
linked worktrees.
For example, main-worktree/HEAD or main-worktree/refs/bisect/good resolve
to the same value as the main worktree's HEAD and refs/bisect/good
respectively. Similarly, worktrees/foo/HEAD or
worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad are the same as
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/foo/HEAD and
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad.
To access refs, it's best not to look inside $GIT_DIR directly. Instead
use commands such as git-rev-parse(1) or git-update-ref(1) which will
handle refs correctly.
CONFIGURATION FILE
By default, the repository config file is shared across all worktrees. If
the config variables core.bare or core.worktree are present in the common
config file and extensions.worktreeConfig is disabled, then they will be
applied to the main worktree only.
In order to have worktree-specific configuration, you can turn on the
worktreeConfig extension, e.g.:
$ git config extensions.worktreeConfig true
In this mode, specific configuration stays in the path pointed by git
rev-parse --git-path config.worktree. You can add or update configuration
in this file with git config --worktree. Older Git versions will refuse
to access repositories with this extension.
Note that in this file, the exception for core.bare and core.worktree is
gone. If they exist in $GIT_DIR/config, you must move them to the
config.worktree of the main worktree. You may also take this opportunity
to review and move other configuration that you do not want to share to
all worktrees:
o core.worktree should never be shared.
o core.bare should not be shared if the value is core.bare=true.
o core.sparseCheckout should not be shared, unless you are sure you
always use sparse checkout for all worktrees.
See the documentation of extensions.worktreeConfig in git-config(1) for
more details.
DETAILS
Each linked worktree has a private sub-directory in the repository's
$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually
the base name of the linked worktree's path, possibly appended with a
number to make it unique. For example, when $GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git the
command git worktree add /path/other/test-next next creates the linked
worktree in /path/other/test-next and also creates a
$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next directory (or $GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1
if test-next is already taken).
Within a linked worktree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private
directory (e.g. /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next in the example) and
$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main worktree's $GIT_DIR
(e.g. /path/main/.git). These settings are made in a .git file located at
the top directory of the linked worktree.
Path resolution via git rev-parse --git-path uses either $GIT_DIR or
$GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the linked
worktree git rev-parse --git-path HEAD returns
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD (not
/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD or /path/main/.git/HEAD) while git
rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master uses $GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns
/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master, since refs are shared across all
worktrees, except refs/bisect, refs/worktree and refs/rewritten.
See gitrepository-layout(5) for more information. The rule of thumb is do
not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to $GIT_DIR or
$GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something inside
$GIT_DIR. Use git rev-parse --git-path to get the final path.
If you manually move a linked worktree, you need to update the gitdir
file in the entry's directory. For example, if a linked worktree is moved
to /newpath/test-next and its .git file points to
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next, then update
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir to reference
/newpath/test-next instead. Better yet, run git worktree repair to
reestablish the connection automatically.
To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which can be
useful in some situations, such as when the entry's worktree is stored on
a portable device), use the git worktree lock command, which adds a file
named locked to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in
plain text. For example, if a linked worktree's .git file points to
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next then a file named
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked will prevent the test-next
entry from being pruned. See gitrepository-layout(5) for details.
When extensions.worktreeConfig is enabled, the config file
.git/worktrees/<id>/config.worktree is read after .git/config is.
LIST OUTPUT FORMAT
The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format
shows the details on a single line with columns. For example:
$ git worktree list
/path/to/bare-source (bare)
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD)
The command also shows annotations for each worktree, according to its
state. These annotations are:
o locked, if the worktree is locked.
o prunable, if the worktree can be pruned via git worktree prune.
$ git worktree list
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/locked-worktree acbd5678 (brancha) locked
/path/to/prunable-worktree 5678abc (detached HEAD) prunable
For these annotations, a reason might also be available and this can be
seen using the verbose mode. The annotation is then moved to the next
line indented followed by the additional information.
$ git worktree list --verbose
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/locked-worktree-no-reason abcd5678 (detached HEAD) locked
/path/to/locked-worktree-with-reason 1234abcd (brancha)
locked: worktree path is mounted on a portable device
/path/to/prunable-worktree 5678abc1 (detached HEAD)
prunable: gitdir file points to non-existent location
Note that the annotation is moved to the next line if the additional
information is available, otherwise it stays on the same line as the
worktree itself.
Porcelain Format
The porcelain format has a line per attribute. If -z is given then the
lines are terminated with NUL rather than a newline. Attributes are
listed with a label and value separated by a single space. Boolean
attributes (like bare and detached) are listed as a label only, and are
present only if the value is true. Some attributes (like locked) can be
listed as a label only or with a value depending upon whether a reason is
available. The first attribute of a worktree is always worktree, an empty
line indicates the end of the record. For example:
$ git worktree list --porcelain
worktree /path/to/bare-source
bare
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree
HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234
branch refs/heads/master
worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree
HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a
detached
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-no-reason
HEAD 5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678c
branch refs/heads/locked-no-reason
locked
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-with-reason
HEAD 3456def3456def3456def3456def3456def3456b
branch refs/heads/locked-with-reason
locked reason why is locked
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-prunable
HEAD 1233def1234def1234def1234def1234def1234b
detached
prunable gitdir file points to non-existent location
Unless -z is used any "unusual" characters in the lock reason such as
newlines are escaped and the entire reason is quoted as explained for the
configuration variable core.quotePath (see git-config(1)). For Example:
$ git worktree list --porcelain
...
locked "reason\nwhy is locked"
...
EXAMPLES
You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and
demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use git-
stash(1) to store your changes away temporarily, however, your working
tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed files,
and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk
disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked worktree to
make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier
refactoring session.
$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master
$ pushd ../temp
# ... hack hack hack ...
$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss'
$ popd
$ git worktree remove ../temp
CONFIGURATION
Everything below this line in this section is selectively included from
the git-config(1) documentation. The content is the same as what's found
there:
worktree.guessRemote
If no branch is specified and neither -b nor -B nor --detach is used,
then git worktree add defaults to creating a new branch from HEAD. If
worktree.guessRemote is set to true, worktree add tries to find a
remote-tracking branch whose name uniquely matches the new branch
name. If such a branch exists, it is checked out and set as
"upstream" for the new branch. If multiple matches are found, the
command fails. If no such match can be found, it falls back to
creating a new branch from the current HEAD.
worktree.useRelativePaths
Link worktrees using relative paths (when "true") or absolute paths
(when "false"). This is particularly useful for setups where the
repository and worktrees may be moved between different locations or
environments. Defaults to "false".
Note that setting worktree.useRelativePaths to "true" implies
enabling the extensions.relativeWorktrees config (see git-config(1)),
thus making it incompatible with older versions of Git.
BUGS
Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support for
submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple
checkouts of a superproject.
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.56.0 2026-09-27 git-worktree(1)
git 2.56.0 - Generated Thu Oct 1 18:17:07 CDT 2026