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Git Log

The git log command shows the history of commits, from the newest to the oldest. It is the way to answer “who changed this, when and why?”.

Syntax

git log
git log --oneline
git log -n 3
git log --stat
git log -p
git log --author="name"
git log --grep="word"

Make a small history to practice

Basic log

Terminal output

$ git log
commit 2f62a896574813946380bdd086cfe3d467cedc5e (HEAD -> main)
Author: Robin Sharma <robin@example.com>
Date: Sat Jan 10 11:31:00 2026 +0000

Fix typo in books list

commit 617155c93e8b42f6ad30b7cc3bae7ee734c67c0e
Author: Robin Sharma <robin@example.com>
Date: Sat Jan 10 11:17:00 2026 +0000

Add magazines list

commit 483372d698640172f53444c5b102e0b672f330e8
Author: Robin Sharma <robin@example.com>
Date: Sat Jan 10 10:56:00 2026 +0000

Add second book

commit 08e1c3a4ffe119cf3ff2b914640a10e2c4023d25
Author: Robin Sharma <robin@example.com>
Date: Sat Jan 10 10:42:00 2026 +0000

Add first book

Each commit shows the full hash, the author, the date and the message. The commit on the top is the latest one. HEAD -> main tells that you are on the main branch at this commit.

One line per commit

Terminal output

$ git log –oneline
2f62a89 (HEAD -> main) Fix typo in books list
617155c Add magazines list
483372d Add second book
08e1c3a Add first book

Limit the number of commits

Terminal output

$ git log -2 –oneline
2f62a89 (HEAD -> main) Fix typo in books list
617155c Add magazines list

See which files changed in each commit

Terminal output

$ git log –stat –oneline
2f62a89 (HEAD -> main) Fix typo in books list
books.txt | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
617155c Add magazines list
magazines.txt | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
483372d Add second book
books.txt | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
08e1c3a Add first book
books.txt | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

See the exact changes (patch)

Terminal output

$ git log -p -1
commit 2f62a896574813946380bdd086cfe3d467cedc5e (HEAD -> main)
Author: Robin Sharma <robin@example.com>
Date: Sat Jan 10 11:31:00 2026 +0000

Fix typo in books list

diff –git a/books.txt b/books.txt
index 6d86d80..a564d9a 100644
— a/books.txt
+++ b/books.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
Book 1
Book 2
+Book 3

Filter the log

Terminal output

$ git log –oneline –grep="book"
2f62a89 (HEAD -> main) Fix typo in books list
483372d Add second book
08e1c3a Add first book
$ git log –oneline –author="Robin"
2f62a89 (HEAD -> main) Fix typo in books list
617155c Add magazines list
483372d Add second book
08e1c3a Add first book
$ git log –oneline — magazines.txt
617155c Add magazines list

  • --grep searches in the commit messages.
  • --author shows commits of a person.
  • A path after two dashes shows only the commits which changed that file.
  • --since="2 weeks ago" and --until filter by date.

Custom format

Terminal output

$ git log –pretty=format:"%h | %an | %s"
2f62a89 | Robin Sharma | Fix typo in books list
617155c | Robin Sharma | Add magazines list
483372d | Robin Sharma | Add second book
08e1c3a | Robin Sharma | Add first book

PlaceholderMeaning
%H / %hFull hash / short hash
%anAuthor name
%aeAuthor email
%adAuthor date
%sCommit message title

Show one commit

Terminal output

$ git show –stat –oneline HEAD
2f62a89 (HEAD -> main) Fix typo in books list
books.txt | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

Graph of branches

When you have branches, --graph draws the lines for them. We will see it with a real example in the merge chapter.

git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all
Note: Press q to leave the log when it is long and shown page by page. Next: Git Diff.

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