Investigate changes in Git repository

Navigate and search through project history

• Search through the list of commits by entering full commit names or messages or their fragments, revision numbers, or regular expressions.

• Filter the commits by branch or favorite branches, user, date, and folder (or root and folder for multi-root projects).

• Click the Go to Hash/Branch/Tag icon on the toolbar or press Ctrl+F and specify a commit hash, tag or the name of a branch you want to jump to (you will be taken to the latest commit in that branch).

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• Press the Left and Right keys to jump to the parent/child commit. This is especially useful if you have commits to different repositories and multiple branches all mixed in the Log tab of the Git tool window Alt+9.

1. Open the Git tool window Alt+9 and switch to the Log tab.

2. Select a commit and choose Show Repository at Revision from the context menu.

The Repositories tool window will open containing the snapshot of your project at the selected revision.

• Select any two commits in the Log tab of the Git tool window Alt+9 and choose Compare Versions from the context menu.

  The Changes tool window with a list of files modified between the selected commits opens. You can view the diff for any file by clicking or pressing Ctrl+D.

1. Select the required file in any view (in the Project tool window, in the editor, in the Local Changes view, and so on).

2. Select Git | Show History from the main VCS menu or from the context menu of the selection. The History tab is added to the Git tool window showing the history for the selected file and allowing you to review and compare its revisions.

3. To identify which changes were introduced in a specific revision, select it in the list. On the right side of the panel the diff is instantly shown.

4. To view the diff of the whole file in the dedicated diff viewer, select it in the list and press Ctrl+D or click the button on the toolbar. The Differences Viewer will open showing what has changed in this revision.

1. Select a directory or multiple directories in the Project tool window and choose Git | Show History from the context menu.

2. A new tab is added to the Git tool window Alt+9 that shows commits filtered by the selected folders.

1. Open the Git tool window Alt+9 and switch to the Log tab.

2. Select the commit you are interested in, and in the right pane select the file.

3. Click the button on the toolbar.

• In the Log tab of the Git tool window Alt+9, select the merge commit you are interested in.

  • If no conflicts were detected and resolved during the merge, IntelliJ IDEA will display the corresponding message in the Changed Files pane and suggest reviewing changes that originate from both parents:

    

    Select the required file from one of the nodes and click the Show Diff icon on the toolbar or press Ctrl+D. The Differences Viewer will show a two-panel diff allowing you to compare the current version with the selected parent.

  • If conflicts occurred during the merge, the Changed Files pane will show you a list of files merged with conflicts.

    Select the required file and click the Show Diff icon on the toolbar or press Ctrl+D. The Differences Viewer will show a three-panel diff allowing you to compare the current version with each of its parents, and see how exactly conflicts were resolved.

Enable annotations

• Right-click the gutter in the editor or in the Differences Viewer and select Annotate with Git Blame from the context menu.

  You can assign a custom shortcut to the Annotate command: go to the Keymap page of the IDE settings Ctrl+Alt+S and look for Version Control Systems | Git | Annotate.

Configure annotation options

• Right-click the annotations gutter and select Options from the context menu:

  • Ignore Whitespaces: whitespaces will be ignored (git blame -w). This means that annotations will point to the previous meaningful commit.

  • Detect Movements Within File: when a commit moves or copies lines within the same file, such change will be ignored (git blame -M). This means that annotations will point to the previous meaningful commit.

  • Detect Movements Across Files: when a commit moves or copies lines from other files that were modified in the same commit, such change will be ignored (git blame -C). This means that annotations will point to the previous meaningful commit.

  • Show Commit Timestamp: select this option if you want IntelliJ IDEA to show the commit timestamp in the Annotations view instead of the time when a change was authored.

Customize date format

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Appearance & Behavior | System Settings | Date Formats.

2. Click the Date Time Pattern field next to VCS Annotate and specify the date format that you want to use for VCS annotations. See patterns reference.

Show the author of changes in the editor

You can configure the editor to show the author of the last change to an element (a method or a class) in inlay hints. To switch them on:

1. Open Preferences | Editor | Inlay Hints | Code vision.

2. Select the Code author option.

3. Choose the position to display the name:

   • on top of the line (default)

     

   • on the right.

     

Click the name to open the annotated view.