Use:

bash

git switch branch-name

That’s the simplest way to change branches in Git Bash. This command switches you to an existing branch, and the older alternative is git checkout branch- name.

Common cases

  • Switch to an existing branch:

    bash

git switch feature-branch

  • Create and switch to a new branch:

    bash

git switch -c new-branch

  • Go back to the previous branch:

    bash

git switch -

If the branch is remote

If the branch exists on the remote but not locally yet, run:

bash

git fetch
git switch branch-name

Git can then create a local tracking branch in many cases.

Example

If your branch is called login-page, you would type:

bash

git switch login-page

Note

git switch is the cleaner modern command for branch changes, while git checkout is the older, more overloaded command that also handles files and commits.