doc: git-checkout: deduplicate --detach explanation
From user feedback: several users say they don't understand the use case for `--detach`. It's probably not realistic to explain the use case for detached HEAD state here, but we can improve the situation. Explain how `git checkout --detach` is different from `git checkout <branch>` instead of copying over the description from `git checkout <branch>`, since `git checkout <branch>` will be a familiar command to many readers. Signed-off-by: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Julia Evans committed
Sep 10, 2025 at 19:14 UTC
0dd71f607c2b16e56b72a1e86262eb2b9e52e343
1 file changed
+3
-10
Documentation/git-checkout.adoc
+3
-10
index aaff488929..215fe40889 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc
@@ -66,16 +66,9 @@ uncommitted changes.
`git checkout --detach [<branch>]`::
`git checkout [--detach] <commit>`::
- Prepare to work on top of _<commit>_, by detaching `HEAD` at it
- (see "DETACHED HEAD" section), and updating the index and the
- files in the working tree. Local modifications to the files
- in the working tree are kept, so that the resulting working
- tree will be the state recorded in the commit plus the local
- modifications.
-+
-When the _<commit>_ argument is a branch name, the `--detach` option can
-be used to detach `HEAD` at the tip of the branch (`git checkout
-<branch>` would check out that branch without detaching `HEAD`).
+ The same as `git checkout <branch>`, except that instead of pointing
+ `HEAD` at the branch, it points `HEAD` at the commit ID.
+ See the "DETACHED HEAD" section below for more.
+
Omitting _<branch>_ detaches `HEAD` at the tip of the current branch.