There is a MAC OS Git installer that is maintained and made available for download on the Git website, at Finally, a third option of installing Git on MAC OS is to install it as part of the GitHub for MAC install. They have a GUI Git tool that has an. One of the best Git GUI clients for Windows is the Github Desktop, which has been.
Introduction
Remembering many git commands and also doing it in the terminal can be hard if you don't have too much practice. Graphical User Interfaces (GUI's) can make your life easier and improve your productivity. One of that is the Sourcetree.
Sourcetree is a free Git client for Windows and Mac that simplifies how you interact with your Git repositories so you can focus on coding. It enables you visualize and manage your repositories through a simple Git GUI.
In this post we will show how to run some git daily basis commands with the Sourcetree GUI.
Commmands
Log
Shows the commit logs.
Command: git log (doc)
In Sourcetree we can check the log in the History tab.
Commit
Record changes to the repository
Command: git commit -m <message> [--amend] (doc)
In Sourcetree you can achieve the same result clicking in the rounded Commit button at the top left corner, write the message in the text box and commit it by clicking the right bottom button.
Adding the amend option you will replace the tip of the current branch by creating a new commit. For doing this in Sourcetree you need select the Commit Options in the right top of the commit input box and select the option Amend last commit.
Diff
Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
git diff <commit1> <commit2> (doc)
For doing the same in Sourcetree you just need select 2 commits in the History.
Gui For Git Mac Os
Stash
Use git stash when you want to record the current state of the working directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean working directory. The command saves your local modifications away and reverts the working directory to match the HEAD commit.
git stash push -m <message> (doc)
In Sourcetree for push a new stash you need select the Stash button in the top toolbar.
For apply or delete a stash you can use the Stashes menu in the sidebar.
Checkout
Switch branches or restore working tree files
git checkout -b <branch> (doc)
In Sourcetree first you need right click in the commit you want and select the Branch option.
Then you just need add the branch name and confirm.
Add Remote
Adds a remote named <name> for the repository at <url>.
git remote add <name> <url> (doc)
For adding a remote you need first create a remote repository in some host service like Github or Bitbucket. For example, after create a repository on Github you have some like that:
To add this remote in Sourcetree first you need right click on the Workspace menu in the sidebar.
Then add the remote <name> (usually defined as 'origin') and <url> in the fields and click in OK. That's it. Your new branch is ready.
Merge
Join two or more development histories together
git merge <branch> (doc)
For merge branch in Sourcetree you just need right click in the branch commit that you want and choose the option Merge.
If you have some conflict you can also fix it by right clicking in the conflicted file, select the Resolve Conflicts and pick the desired option. Resolve Using 'Mine' means you want use the solution of your current branch and Resolve Using `Theirs' means you want replace the solution for the selected commit.
Squash
To Squash commits you should use rebase command in interactive mode. Rebasing interactively means that you have a chance to edit the commits which are rebased. You can reorder the commits, and you can remove them (weeding out bad or otherwise unwanted patches).
Start it with the last commit you want to retain as-is:
git rebase -i <after-this-commit> (doc)
An editor will be fired up with all the commits in your current branch (ignoring merge commits), which come after the given commit. You can reorder the commits in this list to your heart’s content, and you can remove them. The list looks more or less like this:
You can squash commits changing the word pick into squash (or just s) next to it. The result would be:
For squash commits in Sourcetree first you need right click in the commit before that you want and select the option Rebase children of <commit> interactively....
Then select the commits you want squash and confirm. You can also edit the commit message if you want.
Conclusion
In this post we learned some useful git daily commands (like commit, merge, stash, etc.) using the Sourcetree GUI. It enables you visualize and manage your repositories improving your productivity and making you focus on what matters: coding.
If you believe there is some command missing or have any other suggestion please let me know commenting below :).
A number of Git GUI clients for a variety of operating systems, including Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, and Windows are available today. These would help in integrating a variety of features that would help you to work with ease along with your team on any project.
Git is one of the best and most preferred version control system (VCS) available. Many projects implement Git repositories for storing and managing codes, regardless of whether it for a big enterprise or a small-scale project. With Git, it becomes easy to code and offer exciting integration features, which would help you to work with ease on any project or along with any teams.
Now, it is important that a developer should possess Git skill. It might not be easy for beginners to understand any commands or operations; however, there are a number of tools that are available, which can help make it easier to provide GUI alternatives to Git CLI. We will take you through some of these Git GUI clients below:
Top Git GUI Clients
How To Use Git Gui
Github Desktop
One of the best Git GUI clients for Windows is the Github Desktop, which has been created by Github. In fact, experts recommend this as the first choice when you implement GitHub to host your projects. As it is designed by Github, it comes with tons of features, specifically for VCS. The Github desktop is an extension of the GitHub workflow. This amazing tool will provide you with a rich user interface, which will allow you to manage your code. You do not need to type more commands within the command window.
Features:
- Enables the creation of new repositories
- Allows to add local repositories
- Most of the Git operations can be performed from the UI
- Tracking changes are easier
The GitHub desktop is entirely open source. You can find it on Mac OS and Windows. It is not available for Linux yet. But we can expect it in the future.
You can download GitHub desktop here.
SourceTree
One of the interesting GUI Git clients is SourceTree. This is a free Git client, which was developed by Atlassian. This organization has powered Jira and Bitbucket. It gets great support from the repositories that are hosted by Bitbucket and GitHub.
When compared with the GitHub desktop, SourceTree is highly advanced and comes with a number of features and operations, available from the UI. This enterprise-grade tool can be used as part of a larger team. This client is available for Windows and Mac, though if you are a Linux user, you might have to wait because, in the future, we can expect it to be available for Linux as well.
You can download it here.
GitKraken
Just like Github desktop, GitKraken is another one best GUI Git client that comes with great UI, features, and themes. It looks exciting and comes with a lot of features when compared with any other GUI Git client that you might find today.
This supports VCS, such as GitHub, Bitbucket, Gitlab and GitHub Enterprise. This has a number of collaborative features. It is considered to be one of the most attractive among the Git clients. Some of its features include in-built code editor, which helps to kick-start a project, with drag and drop functionality. A commit graph functionality is available which offers an intuitive experience when using this tool.
GitKraken is free of cost and both it’s premium and enterprise variants are also available. The free version is best suited for start-ups and small teams. However, you can upgrade once your team or work starts growing. It is available for Linux, MacOS, and Windows.
Click here to download GitKraken.
SmartGit
Another one of the best and interesting clients is SmartGit, which is available for free across non-commercial institutions. However, if you want to utilize it for a commercial purpose, then you would have to get a license for the same.
It is found that SmartGit is not too easy to use. It might need you to have a good substantial knowledge of git commands. In fact, it might be a little overwhelming when you find a large number of buttons and options, which come with its UI. It easily provides support for Git and SVN. It also offers all the wide range of collaboration features that are available.
Just like GitKraken, SmartGit is also easily available for Windows, Linux, and MacOS. You need to have an excellent knowledge of Git commands to work with SmartGit.
For more details or to download SmartGit, click here.
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Git Cola
Git Cola is available free of cost. It is written in Python. However, it is very powerful. This graphical Git client is available for Ubuntu and Linux. Also, this is considered as one of the best and fast version control tools that are easily available for software developers. You might find that it is simple and easy. But it is very powerful as it comes with a wide range of features, such as merge, pull, push, clone and various other features.
Also, a cross-platform client, Git Cola easily provides support for MacOS, Linux and Windows. This open-source Git GUI client is easily customizable for Git clients. You can even try out a few tweaks with this GUI client. Try customizing the window settings, language settings along with other features, which will help enhance the work experience while also making it hassle-free to use.
GitForce
This is another interesting cross-platform and front-end GUI client that can be used as a Git command line tool. It works excellently across Linux and Windows, and even Ubuntu. Also, it is simple and easy to use. It comes with a powerful and reliable version control tool, which is best suited for Ubuntu.
The main idea of GitForce is to offer easy to use graphical front-end, which is simple to understand, even if you are a beginner, to carry out some of the most common operations and even software development tasks. It is written in .NET 3.5 and C# framework.
Though it comes with limited features, you can depend on GitForce to carry out tasks rather than getting involved with the Git command line tool. It comes with a wide range of interesting features, including support for a wide range of multiple repositories, scanning local repositories with ease and other basic features, such as drag and drop.
You can click here for more details on GitForce.
Giggle
This is free and easy to use. Giggle happened to be launched in the year 2007 and was part of a hackathon initiative. It would work exclusively on Linux as well as other popular distributions. This front-end tool made it easier for developers to browse and even to view the repositories within the graphical interface.
Giggle comes with a range of basic features which you can expect from Git GUI clients, including stag, commit, browse and others. The user interface of Giggle is simple and you can easily get accustomed to it in no time.
Magit
This is one of the most interesting graphical interfaces available for version control tool Git command line. There is no separate interface available with it. It can be easily implemented as GNU Emacs package. It might not provide a performance as great as compared with the other Git GUI clients that have been listed out here. However, it would allow software developers to perform interesting version control tasks within the Emacs window.
Though it is a plugin, it comes with some interesting features that are encapsulated with an application separately. Some of these features include rebasing, smooth workflow and visualization, and so on. This plugin is platform independent. It can be easily integrated with Emacs, which is installed on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
You can download Magit here.
Egit
Another interesting graphical Git version control plugin available for Eclipse is Egit. It can be implemented on top of jGit, which is the Java implementation of Git. It is simple and useful. It is a reliable Git tool and offers all the essential basic features, which are required to accomplish all software development version control tasks.
For more information on Egit or to find out about its features, or to download it, click here.
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Gitg
This is a GNOME front-end that is designed for a Git command line. It is a default graphical Git client on a GNOME desktop environment. It comes with a range of features, such as commit, open repository, clone repository, staging, and others. It is also capable of enabling GNOME shell integration. This integration opens or changes the method adopted by various app integrations along with the GNOME features for people using desktop devices.
Git Gui For Mac Download
Since GNOME comes with a simple design, it will not restrict Gitg from providing an exclusive package of features for the operating systems. It is one of the best Git GUI clients available.
Best Git Gui Mac
Though the UI might be confusing in the beginning, experts say that over time, it would become easier and understandable.
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