GitHub Cheat Sheet
A list of hidden and lesser-known features of Git and GitHub, with examples.
- Stars
- 60.1k
- Forks
- 5.5k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- —
- Last update
- 2.6 years ago
- Type
- Curated list
No commits in over a year — check for forks or alternatives before adopting.
What it is
This is a reference page of tips for Git and GitHub, collected as short sections with example URLs, commands, and screenshots. It covers things like comparing branches, filtering diffs by whitespace, viewing one author's commits, and using Gists. It was inspired by talks by Zach Holman on Git and GitHub secrets.
- Append ?w=1 to a diff URL to hide whitespace-only changes
- Compare two branches or a date range by editing a GitHub compare URL
- View all commits by one author by adding ?author= to a commits URL
- Clone a repository and read the git-related tips alongside it
Great for
- Developers who already use Git and GitHub daily and want to discover lesser-known features
- Students learning Git and GitHub who want practical examples
- Team leads looking for tips to share with their team
Not ideal for
- Complete beginners who need step-by-step Git fundamentals, since it assumes some familiarity with the tools
- People looking for software to install, because this is a document rather than a program
- Anyone needing current GitHub documentation, since the README links to older help articles and the last push was in April 2024
How to get it
- 1
Read it online
You'll need: Git (for the cloning example)
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet - 2
Run it
- Open the README on GitHub or in a local clone.
- Use the table of contents to jump to a topic, such as Diffs or Branch.
- Try a tip in a browser on a repository you can access, such as adding ?w=1 to a diff URL.
- Explore the Git section for tips like aliases and styled git log.
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the Ignore Whitespace tip (?w=1) when reviewing pull requests with formatting changes
- Use the Comparing Branches section to compare across forks with the owner:branch syntax
- Set up the Aliases and Auto-Correct git configurations described in the Git section
- Check the Git Resources section for books, videos, and articles to go deeper
Downloads
Strengths
- Short, example-driven sections that are quick to scan
- Covers a wide range of GitHub web features in one place
- Widely starred and long-lived, with MIT license
Trade-offs
- Some tips reference old GitHub URLs, examples use 2012-2014 repositories, and some features may have changed
- Many sections are about the GitHub website, not Git itself, so behavior may differ by platform updates
- No version tracking or releases, so it is hard to know which tips are still accurate
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| github-cheat-sheet (this) | 60.1k | Curated list | beginner | 2.6 years ago | Developers who already use Git and GitHub daily and want to discover lesser-known features |
| learnGitBranching | 34.2k | Learning resource | beginner | 6 days ago | Beginners who want to see what git commands do to commits and branches |
| gitea | 58.8k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Teams that want to host their own code instead of using a public cloud service |
| desktop | 22k | App | beginner | 6 days ago | Developers who work with GitHub and prefer a visual interface for commits and branches |
| git-history | 13.7k | App | beginner | 2.1 years ago | Developers trying to understand why a file looks the way it does |
| public-apis | 495k | Curated list | beginner | 4 days ago | Developers looking for a third-party API to add to a side project |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.