How do you create and switch to a new branch in Git?

Create a branch and check it out in one step with git switch -c or the older git checkout -b.

GitVersion Control

Overview

Branches let you work on features or fixes in isolation without affecting the main codebase. Creating and switching to a new branch is a daily Git operation.

Key Points

•`git switch -c <name>` is the modern way (Git 2.23+): c stands for "create".
•`git checkout -b <name>` is the older equivalent both do the same thing.
•Branch names should be short, lowercase, and use hyphens: `feature/login`, `fix/navbar-bug`.
•To create a branch from a specific commit or tag, pass it as a second argument.
•Use `git branch` to list all local branches; `git branch -a` includes remotes.

Examples

Create and switch to a new branch (modern syntax)

bash

git switch -c feature/user-auth

Recommended for Git 2.23 and later.

Create and switch to a new branch (classic syntax)

bash

git checkout -b feature/user-auth

Works in all Git versions. Still widely used.

Create a branch from a specific starting point

bash

# from a commit hash
git switch -c hotfix/button-fix abc1234

# from an existing branch
git switch -c release/v2 main

List all branches and push the new branch to remote

bash

git branch           # list local branches
git branch -a        # include remote branches

# push to remote and set upstream
git push -u origin feature/user-auth

Pro Tip

Prefer `git switch` and `git restore` over `git checkout` in modern Git. The old `checkout` command does too many things (switching branches, restoring files) which makes it easy to run the wrong variant by accident.