# Git, detached HEAD

> Understand the Git detached HEAD state, when HEAD points to a commit instead of a branch, and how to create a branch so you do not lose new commits.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2024-04-17 | Topics: [Git](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/git/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/git-detached-head/

One of the states in which your [Git](https://flaviocopes.com/git/) repository can end up is "detached HEAD".

Sounds scary.

Two words: detached (not attached?) and `HEAD`.

`HEAD` is the current commit.

When you create a repository, HEAD points to the first commit. If you do a second commit, HEAD points to the new commit.

If you switch branch, HEAD points to the latest commit in that branch.

That's what's normal 90% of the time: `HEAD` points to the latest commit in the currently selected branch. To Git, that's what it means `HEAD` being _attached_.

Our problem is `HEAD` being _detached_.

This happens when you checkout a commit that's not the latest in the branch, and basically means `HEAD` is not pointing to a branch, but at a commit.

It's not a situation that's too unusual. Perhaps you are debugging an issue and you're trying to figure out in which commit the issue was introduced, so you check out individual commits (using `git checkout <commit>`) until you find where the code was working.

In this case, when you're done, you can checkout a branch, for example `main`, using `git checkout main`

One thing you can do however is end up in this situation: you are in a detached HEAD state (checked out a commit) and you create a new commit. One or more.

In this case, you need to create a branch before you switch to another branch, otherwise your changes might be lost.

Do so by creating a branch at this commit using:

```
git branch <new-branch-name>
```

and then switching to that branch (important):

```
git checkout <new-branch-name>
```

Or, with a single command:

```
git checkout -b <new-branch-name>
```

If you're in a Git situation that's messier than this, I built a free [Git recovery tool](https://flaviocopes.com/tools/git-recovery/): describe the mess, and it gives you the recovery steps.