--- title: How To Checkout The Previous Branch In Git | daily.dev description: A quick tip showing how to switch back to the previously checked-out Git branch using `git checkout -` (shorthand for `git checkout @{-1}`). The post explains... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-checkout-the-previous-branch-in-git-9olqm5vuj twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: How To Checkout The Previous Branch In Git | daily.dev og:description: A quick tip showing how to switch back to the previously checked-out Git branch using `git checkout -` (shorthand for `git checkout @{-1}`). The post explains... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-checkout-the-previous-branch-in-git-9olqm5vuj og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/9Olqm5vuj.png og:image:alt: How To Checkout The Previous Branch In Git og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How To Checkout The Previous Branch In Git **[Marc G Gauthier](https://daily.dev/sources/marcgg)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A quick tip showing how to switch back to the previously checked-out Git branch using `git checkout -` (shorthand for `git checkout @{-1}`). The post explains the underlying syntax from Git documentation, provides a concrete example with multiple branches, and suggests a shell alias `alias g-='git checkout -'` for even faster navigation. Available since Git 1.6.2. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Git UNDO : How to Rewrite Git History with Confidence](https://daily.dev/posts/git-undo-how-to-rewrite-git-history-with-confidence-p2tuql4z7) · Towards Data Science · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Git Recovery Guide: How to Undo Anything \(Without Panic\)](https://daily.dev/posts/the-git-recovery-guide-how-to-undo-anything-without-panic--alupd6iws) · DEV · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Git Commands For a Single Commit](https://daily.dev/posts/git-commands-for-a-single-commit-rbwx1zjhh) · Atomic Spin · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [Archiving git branches as tags](https://daily.dev/posts/archiving-git-branches-as-tags-fo7e00jw3) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#git](https://daily.dev/tags/git), [#cli](https://daily.dev/tags/cli), [#version-control](https://daily.dev/tags/version-control) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-checkout-the-previous-branch-in-git-9olqm5vuj) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"How To Checkout The Previous Branch In Git","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-checkout-the-previous-branch-in-git-9olqm5vuj","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-checkout-the-previous-branch-in-git-9olqm5vuj"},"datePublished":"2026-03-26T08:35:56.592Z","dateModified":"2026-03-26T08:37:06.137Z","description":"A quick tip showing how to switch back to the previously checked-out Git branch using `git checkout -` (shorthand for `git checkout @{-1}`). 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