Checking Out (Switching Between Branches)

To check out an existing branch

Invoke the Branches menu as described in the section Accessing Git Branches Popup Menu.
On the pop-up list that shows all available local and remote branches, click the desired one, and choose Checkout on the submenu.

The subsequent behavior depends on the presence of conflicts.
- If your working tree is not dirty, or your local changes do not conflict with the specified branch, then this branch is checked out, which is reported in a balloon in the lower-left corner of the PhpStorm window.
- If you are working with a dirty tree, and your local changes would be overwritten by checkout, PhpStorm shows the files that prevent checking branch out, and suggests to choose between force checkout, and smart checkout:
  
  Force checkout: local changes will be overwritten, like git checkout -f does.
  
  Smart checkout: PhpStorm stashes local changes, checks the branch out, and then unstashes changes back. If a conflict happens during unstash, merge dialog is shown.

To find out which branch is currently checked out in a local repository, do one of the following

View information about the current branch in the widget in the Status bar:
Invoke the Git Branches popup menu, and see the current branch name at the bottom line:

See Also