Branches

You can use the Branches tab to manage all branches in your repository.

Navigate the Branches tab

To open the Branches tab, click Git > Branches. The tab belongs to the repository it was opened from, and opening it again brings that tab forward rather than making a second one.

Branches, Worktrees, and Tags each carry a Refs control beside their title. Use it to move between the three. The menu marks the one you are on, and choosing another opens it for this repository, or brings its tab forward when it is already open.

You can view the current active branch, favorite branches, local branches, and remote only branches. Click Name to sort branches alphabetically by name from A to Z or Z to A. Click Activity to sort branches by the latest or oldest activity.

To delete merged local branches, click Delete Merged. In the Clean Up Merged Branches dialog, select which local branches to delete and click Delete. Use Select All to select or clear all of them. You cannot select a branch that is checked out in a worktree.

Click a branch’s title row or arrow to show its details. Only one branch is expanded at a time; opening another closes the previous details. The list scrolls only as far as needed to show the expanded card. If the card is taller than the pane, its title stays at the top with details below. Details that finish loading afterward update that branch without replacing the rest of the list, preserving your search focus and scroll position.

Click Collapse All beside the search field to close branch details without collapsing the list sections or clearing your search. Click the expanded branch’s title row or arrow to close just that card.

The expanded branch row displays the following sections.

Deltas

The Deltas section compares the commits between the selected branch and the current, active branch.

Click Compare to compare the refs between the selected branch and the current branch. Click Merge to merge the selected branch into the current branch. You can also right-click a local or remote branch and click Merge into current branch….

Before a merge starts, Zide checks whether it could overwrite your changes. If Zide blocks the merge, see A merge, revert, or cherry-pick did not start.

Remote Status

For local branches, the Remote Status section displays the latest commit on the selected branch’s remote-tracking branch.

Click Fetch to fetch the latest commits from the remote branch. Click Compare to compare the remote branch and the local branch. Click Show in Commits to go to the latest commit on the remote branch. Click Create Tag to create a tag at the remote branch.

To delete the remote branch, click Delete Remote Branch.

Worktree

The Worktree sections displays information for a worktree on the branch. To create a worktree from the branch, click Create Worktree.

When a worktree has a branch, the expanded branch row displays the path of the worktree. Click Open Worktree to open the worktree in a worktree project tab. Click Show in File Manager to open the worktree folder in your local file manager. Click Copy Path to copy the path of the worktree folder. Click Lock to lock the worktree. Click View Details to open the worktree in the Worktree tab. If the worktree folder is missing, its drive is unavailable, or its links need repair, Open Worktree is unavailable and says why. See Repair a worktree.

To delete the worktree, click Delete.

Latest Commit

The Latest Commit section displays the commit hash, commit message, commit author, and the date of the latest commit on the branch. Click the commit hash to open the commit in a Commits tab.

Sync Remotes

The Sync Remotes section displays which remotes the branch pulls from and push to. When multiple remotes are set to a repository, click Edit to change the default remotes.

While a merge, revert, or cherry-pick runs

While a merge, revert, or cherry-pick runs, the project header shows it in place of the Branch control, for example Merging origin/feature or Reverting 20d0acf. Push and Pull are not available until it ends. In the Branches tab, Merge, Switch, Checkout, and Delete are not available. In a commit menu, Revert This Commit… and Cherry-Pick This Commit… are not available. Each one shows a message that names the running operation, for example Wait for the merge to finish. or Wait for the revert to finish.

In a partial clone, the operation can first download older file versions. The header then shows Downloading files and Cancel. Click Cancel to stop the download. The operation does not start, and nothing changes in the repository. See Partial clones.

The header does not show the operation while a confirmation dialog is open.

Prune remote-tracking branches

A remote-tracking branch can remain locally after its branch is deleted on the remote. In the Branches tab header, open More actions. Select the Prune command for the remote you want to clean up, such as Prune origin. Zide asks for confirmation, then reports how many branches it removed.

The menu lists one command for each remote. If the repository has no remote, the header has no More actions button.

Create a new branch

To create a new branch, complete the following steps.

1. In the Branches tab, click New Branch.
2. In the New Branch dialog, enter a branch name.
3. Optional To publish the branch, select Publish to remote. If the repository has more than one remote, select the remote.
4. Click Create & Switch to create the branch and switch to it. If you selected Publish to remote, click Create & Publish.

The dialog checks the name while you type and disables creation if it duplicates or conflicts with a local branch name. For example, topic and topic/new cannot both be local branches.

Create a branch from a commit, tag, or reflog entry

You can create a branch at an earlier commit and stay on your current branch.

1. Start from one of these places:
   • In Commits, right-click a commit and click Create Branch from Here….
   • In the Commit view, select More actions > Create Branch from Here….
   • In the Tags tab, right-click a tag and click Create Branch from Here….
   • In Reflog, right-click an entry and click Create branch from here…. In the Reflog Entry view, the same command is in More actions.
2. In the New Branch dialog, enter a branch name. The dialog shows the commit or tag that the branch starts from.
3. Optional To switch to the new branch, select Switch to the new branch.
4. Optional To publish the branch, select Publish to remote. If the repository has more than one remote, select the remote.
5. Click Create & Publish if you selected Publish to remote. Otherwise, click Create & Switch if you selected Switch to the new branch, or Create Branch to stay on your current branch.

You cannot create a branch, or switch branches, while a merge, rebase, cherry-pick, revert, or patch series is in progress. Finish or abort the operation first.

Rebase the current branch

Right-click another branch. Click Rebase current branch onto this branch… to replay the current branch’s commits onto that branch. To review and change the commits first, click Interactive rebase onto this branch…. See Interactive Rebase.

Branch actions

In expanded branch row, click the following icons to perform a branch action for the current, local, or remote branches.

• Push: Push the local commits to the remote branch.
• Show in Commits: Go to the latest commit on the branch in Commits.
• Checkout: Switch to the matching local branch, creating it from the remote branch if needed. If local changes block the switch, no new branch is created. If switching fails after branch creation, Zide restores your files, reports the failure, and lists the new branch.
• Switch: Switch to the local branch.
• Fetch: Fetch the commits from the selected remote branch.
• Rebase: Replay the current branch’s commits onto the selected branch.
• Branch: Create a new branch from this branch.
• Rename: Rename the selected branch.
• Delete: Delete the local branch.
• Delete Remote Branch: Delete the remote branch.
• Create Tag: Create a tag originating from the selected branch.
• Copy: Copy the name of the branch.