How to reset a git submodule?

When working on a Git repository that contains a submodule, a developer may need to reset it. But how do you do it?

This article explains resetting a Git submodule and gives multiple methods (with code snippets) to achieve it.

Let's get to it 😎.

Note: If you want to REMOVE a submodule, read this article.

Method #1 - Reset a submodule

The easiest method to reset a Git submodule is to navigate into the submodule sub-directory and reset it.

Here is how you can do it:

bashgit reset --hard

If you still have "modified content" in the submodule, you need to get the submodule to the correct base commit like so:

bashgit submodule update --init

Method #2 - Unbind and checkout all submodules

To reset a Git submodule, you can also unbind and check out all of the submodules.

Here is how you can do it:

bashgit submodule deinit -f .
git submodule update --init

This method takes time but should reset all of the submodules in a Git repository.

Method #3 - Do a hard reset on all submodules

To reset a Git submodule, you can also do a hard reset on all of the submodules.

Here is how you can do it:

bashgit submodule foreach git reset --hard

Or using the recursive flag to apply on all the submodules, like so:

bashgit submodule foreach --recursive git reset --hard

Method #4 - Do a complete reset

If none of the previous methods worked, you can try to do a complete reset and cleanup of the submodules in your Git repository.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Clean up your Git repository.

bashgit clean -xfd

2. Clean up each Git submodule.

bashgit submodule foreach --recursive git clean -xfd

3. Reset your Git repository.

bashgit reset --hard

4. Reset each Git submodule.

bashgit submodule foreach --recursive git reset --hard

5. Get all of your submodules to the correct base commit.

bashgit submodule update --init --recursive

Final thoughts

As you can see, resetting a Git submodule is easy!

Most of the time, the complete reset will do the trick for you.

Here are some other Git tutorials for you to enjoy:

• How to fix the "git add" command not working?
• How to recursively add a folder in Git?
• How to merge a specific file from another branch in Git?

written by:

Tim Mouskhelichvili

Hello! I am Tim Mouskhelichvili, a Freelance Developer & Consultant from Montreal, Canada. I specialize in React, Node.js & TypeScript application development. If you need help on a project, please reach out, and let’s work together.

Contact Me