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Git Log

Once you’ve made several commits, it’s important to understand how to view and explore your project’s history. Git’s git log command gives you a detailed view of every commit that has been made.

What Does Git Log Do?​

git log shows a chronological list of commits, including:

  • The commit hash (unique ID)
  • The author’s name and email
  • The date and time of the commit
  • The commit message

You may want to use git log to:

  • Review the history of changes
  • Find specific commits
  • Understand the evolution of your project

Example​

git log

Output:

commit a3f6f1c9e29a3e82a4dcb3f59e8ab3d28a12c9af
Author: Tom Fynes <tf.dev@icloud.com.com>
Date:   Fri May 24 14:15 2025

    Add styling to navigation bar

commit d1e8f91b45e8e1f9e4aa84b2e1830c4b5d674cd0
Author: Tom Fynes <tf.dev@icloud.com.com>
Date:   Fri May 24 13:50 2025

    Initial commit: add version.txt

Further commands​

Shows commits as one line (short hash + message)

git log --oneline

DIsplays a text-based branch diagram

git log --graph

Shows the diff (file changes) for each commit

git log -p

Filter commits by author

git log --author="name"

Filter by date

git log --since="2 weeks ago"

Show commits that changed a specific file

git log file.txt