How to Undo Changes Safely (GitHub UI + Terminal)

Mistakes happen — especially when working with Git.
You might merge a branch and later realize:

👉 “Oops… something is wrong. I need to undo this.”

Good news: Git has a safe way to undo changes — git revert

This blog will explain:

• What is git revert

• Why it is safe

• How to use it from:

  • GitHub UI (no coding needed)

  • Terminal (CLI)

🔍 What is git revert?

git revert is a command that undoes a previous commit by creating a new commit.

👉 It does NOT delete history
👉 It does NOT break your branch
👉 It is 100% safe for team projects

🧠 Simple Example

Let’s say your project history looks like this:

A --- B --- C --- D

Now you realize commit D is wrong.

If you revert it:

A --- B --- C --- D --- R

👉 R = new commit that undoes D

So:

• History stays intact
  

• Code is fixed safely
  

⚠️ Why NOT use git reset?

Many beginners confuse this.

❌ git reset → rewrites history (dangerous)

✅ git revert → keeps history (safe)

👉 Always use revert in team projects

🚀 Scenario (Real-world)

You have 2 branches:

• main → production
  

• dev → development
  

You merged dev → main using a Pull Request.

But later…

❌ You found bugs in dev

Now you want to undo that merge.

✅ Method 1: Revert using GitHub UI (Easiest Way)

Using GitHub, you can revert with just a few clicks.

🧩 Step-by-step

1. Go to your repository

Open your project in GitHub.

2. Click Pull Requests

• Go to Closed PRs
  

• Find the PR you merged
  

3. Open the merged PR

You will see a button:

👉 “Revert”

4. Click “Revert”

GitHub will:

• Create a new branch
  

• Create a new Pull Request
  

• Add a commit that undoes your merge
  

5. Merge the new PR

Click:

• “Create Pull Request”
  

• Then “Merge”
  

✅ Result

Your history becomes:

A --- B --- M --- R

• M = merged PR
  

• R = revert commit
  

👉 Your code is now back to the previous stable state

💻 Method 2: Revert using Terminal

Now let’s do the same thing using CLI.

🧩 Step 1: Switch to main branch

git checkout main

🧩 Step 2: Pull latest changes

git pull origin main

🧩 Step 3: Find merge commit

git log --oneline

You will see something like:

abc1234 Merge branch 'dev' into main

Copy that commit hash (abc1234)

🧩 Step 4: Revert the merge

git revert -m 1 abc1234

🔥 What does -m 1 mean?

A merge commit has 2 parents:

• main
  

• dev
  

👉 -m 1 tells Git:

“Keep main, remove dev changes”

🧩 Step 5: Push changes

git push origin main

✅ Result

Same as GitHub UI:

A --- B --- M --- R

🛠 What about the dev branch?

👉 Nothing changes in dev

It still contains the buggy code.

So next steps:

1. Go to dev
   

2. Fix your code
   

3. Push again
   

4. Create a new PR
   

🧠 Quick Comparison

MethodEasySafeRecommendedGitHub UI✅ Very easy✅ Safe⭐ Best for beginnersTerminal⚠️ Medium✅ Safe⭐ For developers

🏁 Final Thoughts

• Use git revert when you want to undo something safely
  

• Avoid git reset in shared projects
  

• GitHub UI makes reverting super easy
  

• Terminal gives you more control
  

👉 Remember:

Revert = Undo safely without breaking history

#Learning, #Programming, #Github