Switching Branches in a Repository Cloned Locally with git clone

After cloning a remote repository, use git branch -a to see all remote branches, then git checkout to create and switch between them locally.

[01] List All Branches

1-1. List local branches only

git branch

Example output:

D:\githubblog\flask-app> git branch
* main

The * marks the currently active branch.

1-2. List all branches (including remote)

git branch -a

Example output:

D:\githubblog\flask-app> git branch -a
* main
  remotes/origin/2-04
  remotes/origin/2-05
  remotes/origin/2-06
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/main
  remotes/origin/main

After cloning a remote repository, git branch alone shows only locally checked-out branches. Use git branch -a to see all remote branches as well.

Command	Shows
git branch	Local branches only
git branch -a	Local + remote tracking branches
git branch -r	Remote tracking branches only

[02] Create and Switch Branches

2-1. Basic method (two commands)

git branch ${branch_name}
git checkout ${branch_name}

Example:

D:\githubblog\flask-app> git branch test-branch-01
D:\githubblog\flask-app> git checkout test-branch-01
Switched to branch 'test-branch-01'
D:\githubblog\flask-app> git branch
  main
* test-branch-01

2-2. Create and switch in a single command

git checkout -b ${branch_name}

Example:

D:\githubblog\flask-pybo> git checkout -b test-branch-02
Switched to a new branch 'test-branch-02'
D:\githubblog\flask-pybo> git branch
  main
  test-branch-01
* test-branch-02

Modern Git (v2.23+) introduced git switch as a cleaner alternative: git switch -c ${branch_name} creates and switches in one step. Both checkout -b and switch -c work the same way.

[03] Merge Branch Work Back into main

After completing work on a feature branch, merge it back into main:

# Stage and commit your changes on the feature branch
git add <file>
git commit -m "feat: describe your change"

# Push the branch to remote (optional)
git push

# Switch back to main and merge
git checkout main
git merge ${branch_name}

Step	Command	Purpose
Stage changes	git add <file>	Mark files for commit
Commit	git commit -m "..."	Save snapshot to branch history
Switch	git checkout main	Return to main branch
Merge	git merge ${branch_name}	Integrate branch changes into main

If there are conflicts during merge, Git will mark the conflicting files. Open them, resolve the conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>), then run git add and git commit to complete the merge.