git reset --soft vs --mixed vs --hard Explained

git reset moves the current branch pointer to a different commit, and its mode controls what happens to the changes in between.

Key points

• --soft keeps all changes staged, ready to be re-committed differently
• --mixed (the default) unstages the changes but keeps them in your working directory as edits
• --hard discards the changes completely, resetting your working directory to match the target commit exactly — this is destructive

Example

git reset --soft HEAD~1