How to do a 'git log' in the Windows Git Gui?

Question

I just used the Git Gui to clone a local repo from GitHub, and then I checked out a certain branch. I now want to see the equivalent of doing a git log -50, but can't seem to find anything in the menu options or on the main screen:

How can I see the commit history/data for the last, say, 50 changes?

Answer 1

That GUI isn't just for Windows, it's the standard git-gui that ships with Git.

In any case, git-gui itself doesn't show log information. It's for creating new commits, managing branches, etc. The companion program gitk visualizes the commit graph and also contains git log-like information.

You can launch gitk from git-gui using something like Repository → Visualize master's History in the menu (or, if you prefer, Visualize All Branch History). Alternatively, you can launch it from the command line. I generally want to see all branches, so I use gitk --all.

Answer 2

Here are different options (the 3 first ones from command line):

• gitk

• or git-gui, then Repository > Visualize master's History, as mentioned by Chris

• Install Git-webui from https://github.com/alberthier/git-webui and create a script in the PATH to call it quickly. On Windows I created gitweb.bat containing:

  python "D:/Documents/software/____PORTABLE/git-webui-master/release/libexec/git-core/git-webui"
  

  

• Use a tool like SourceTree. Note: you have to create an Atlassian or Bitbucket account first even if you want to just use it locally without any repo online (I find this annoying).