Branch Management

Full-featured branch management with visual feedback and drag-and-drop merging.

The Sidebar

The left sidebar organizes your branches:

┌─────────────────────────┐
│ ▼ LOCAL (5)             │
│   ├─ main         [HEAD]│
│   ├─ develop            │
│   └─ feature/           │
│       ├─ login          │
│       └─ dashboard      │
├─────────────────────────┤
│ ▼ REMOTE (8)            │
│   └─ origin/            │
│       ├─ main           │
│       ├─ develop        │
│       └─ feature/...    │
├─────────────────────────┤
│ ▼ STASHES (2)           │
│   ├─ WIP: login work    │
│   └─ temp save          │
└─────────────────────────┘

Branch Actions

Checkout (Switch)

Double-click any local branch to switch to it.

Highlight

Single-click any branch to scroll the commit graph to that branch's latest commit.

Create Branch

1. Right-click any branch
2. Select Branch from...
3. Enter new branch name
4. GitGUI creates and switches to it

Delete Branch

1. Right-click the branch
2. Select Delete branch
3. Confirm deletion
4. Optionally delete from remote

WARNING

Cannot delete the branch you're currently on.

Drag & Drop Merging

The fastest way to merge branches:

1. Drag the source branch (with changes you want)
2. Drop onto the target branch (where changes should go)
3. GitGUI handles the rest

Visual Feedback

• Hover highlight shows the drop target
• Ring indicator confirms valid drop zone

What Happens

1. GitGUI switches to target branch (if needed)
2. Merges source into target
3. Shows success or conflict notification

Context Menu

Right-click any branch for options:

Local Branches

• Branch from... — Create new branch
• Merge into... — Open merge dialog
• Delete branch — Remove the branch

Remote Branches

• Delete remote branch — Remove from server

Merge Dialog

When using Merge into... from context menu:

1. Select the target branch
2. Confirm the merge
3. Handle any conflicts

Handling Conflicts

When a merge has conflicts:

1. Warning notification appears
2. Conflicted files show in staging panel
3. Open files to resolve conflicts
4. Stage resolved files
5. Commit to complete merge

Remote Branches

Viewing

Remote branches appear under REMOTE, organized by remote name.

Tracking

Checkout a remote branch to create a local tracking branch.

Deleting

Right-click → Delete remote branch to remove from server.

Branch Tree Structure

Branches with / in their names are displayed hierarchically:

• feature/login appears under feature/ folder
• Click folders to expand/collapse
• Keeps long branch lists organized

Push and Pull

Push

Ctrl+P — Push current branch to remote

Pull

Ctrl+Shift+P — Pull changes from remote

Status

The status bar shows ahead/behind counts.

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

feature/user-authentication
fix/login-timeout
hotfix/security-patch
release/v2.0

Keep main Clean

• Don't commit directly to main
• Use feature branches
• Merge via pull requests

Delete Merged Branches

Clean up after merging to keep the sidebar tidy.

Pull Before Push

Always pull latest changes before pushing to avoid conflicts.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+P	Push to remote
Ctrl+Shift+P	Pull from remote
Double-click	Checkout branch

Related

• Branches & Merging Guide — Detailed workflows
• Commit Graph — Visualizing branches
• Stash Management — Saving work temporarily