How do I fix the fact that I'm working on the wrong branch

Question

Ok so I meant to be working on a branch called directory-layout, but it turns out that I am working on a branch called master. This is a problem.

I have not yet performed git add . nor git commit -m "I've made a horrendus mistake I'm sorry"

What do I do to add my changes to another (or new) branch and why?

Answer 1

If that branch is a new one, you can simply create it:

git checkout -b anewbranch
git add .
git commit -m "message"

But if that branch is an old one, you can cherry-pick the commit instead:

• add, and commit
• switch to the old branch
• git cherry-pick master

Then reset master to its previous commit

git checkout master
git reset --hard @~1

Another approach would be to use git stash, then switch to the old branch and stash apply.