Staging Files

Add Files to Staging Area

To take changes from your Working Directory and copy them into the Staging Area you use the add subcommand with the path of the file you want to stage, like this:

git add /path/to/file

This will put the changes to the file in the staging area. To add all changed files in a folder to the staging area, you can use a * wildcard, like this:

git add /path/to/folder/*

Additionally, you can just add all changed files to the staging area by running the following:

git add *

Checking Staging Area

You can see what files are currently staged by running the status sub command like so:

git status

This will highlight the staged changes in green, and the changes since the previous version which haven't been staged in red. The status command can also provide some instructions/suggestions in any matters where the staging area needs more explicit direction.