Switch to another branch without changing the workspace files

Git. Switch to another branch

git checkout branch_name

The best bet is to stash the changes and switch branch. For switching branches, you need a clean state. So stash them, checkout a new branch and apply the changes on the new branch and commit it

Edit: I just noticed that you said you had already created some commits. In that case, use git merge --squash to make a single commit:

git checkout cleanchanges
git merge --squash master
git commit -m "nice commit comment for all my changes"

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(Edit: The following answer applies if you have uncommitted changes.)

Just switch branches with git checkout cleanchanges. If the branches refer to the same ref, then all your uncommitted changes will be preserved in your working directory when you switch.

The only time you would have a conflict is if some file in the repository is different between origin/master and cleanchanges. If you just created the branch, then no problem.

As always, if you're at all concerned about losing work, make a backup copy first. Git is designed to not throw away work without asking you first.

Another way, if you want to create a new commit instead of performing a merge:

git checkout cleanchanges
git reset --hard master
git reset cleanchanges

git status
git add .
git commit

The first (hard) reset will set your working tree to the same as the last commit in master.

The second reset will put your HEAD back where it was, pointing to the tip of the cleanchanges branch, but without changing any files. So now you can add and commit them.

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Afterwards, if you want to remove the dirty commits you made from master (and assuming you have not already pushed them), you could:

git checkout master
git reset --hard origin/master

This will discard all your new commits, returning your local master branch to the same commit as the one in the repository.