Branches & Tags Sidebar
Checkout, merge, track remotes, plus Pin / Solo / Hide and per-branch notes
The left sidebar lists local and remote branches, tags, stashes and submodules for the active repository. Filter the list with the search box at the top.
Branch context menu
Right-click a branch (or use the hover-actions) to:
| Action | Notes |
|---|---|
| Checkout | Switches branch. If you have uncommitted changes, the checkout dialog asks what to do with them. |
| Merge into current | Opens the merge dialog. |
| Track… | Remote branches only — creates a local tracking branch and switches to it. Double-clicking a remote branch does the same. |
| Rename… / Delete… | Local branches only. Delete asks for confirmation and can also delete on the remote. |
| New Branch / New Tag from here | Creates a ref pointing at the branch tip. |
| Copy Name | Copies the full branch name. |
Tags have Checkout and Delete; remotes have Fetch, Rename, Delete, Copy Name and Copy URL; stashes have Show Changes, Apply, Apply and drop and Drop. Submodules can be Initialized and Updated from their section.
Switching with uncommitted changes
When you check out a branch with uncommitted changes, GitBor asks how to handle them:
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Leave my changes | Switch without stashing. Git refuses if files would be overwritten. |
| Stash and restore | Stash the changes, switch, then re-apply them on the new branch. |
| Discard local changes | Hard-reset tracked files to HEAD before switching. Cannot be undone. |
Graph hover-actions
Hover a branch row and a group of icons appears on the right. These only change how the branch is displayed — Git and the repository history are untouched.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pin | Keeps the branch at the top of the list. Good for develop, release/* or your current feature. |
| Solo | Temporarily draws the graph as if only this branch existed. |
| Hide | Removes commits that exist only in this branch. A commit shared with another, non-hidden branch stays visible. |
| Note | Opens a per-branch note (see below). |
Pin / Solo / Hide are remembered per repository and survive restarts and tab switches. When a filter is active, a banner above the graph shows what's filtered (e.g. "Graph filtered by branch 'feature' — 42 of 900 commits") with a one-click Show all / Unhide all. If a filter leaves nothing to display, GitBor shows an empty state with a button to clear all filters.
Branch notes
The note is a free-form text field attached to a branch:
- Saved per
repository + branchpair — the same branch name in another repo has its own note. - Markdown is supported, and an empty value removes the note.
- When a note exists, the Note icon gets a dot; hovering shows the note as a tooltip.
- Notes never leave your machine — they're stored with GitBor's local settings, not in Git.
Solo and Hide together
Solo and Hide combine: Solo restricts the graph to one branch, then Hide subtracts the hidden branches from that. The graph is recomputed locally — toggling these never calls Git.
Auto-closing a stale diff
After operations that can change what an open diff points to (commit, merge, pull, stash, reset, checkout, rebase, cherry-pick, revert), GitBor automatically closes a diff panel that would otherwise show a missing file or outdated content. The graph and the changes list refresh, and your next click shows the up-to-date diff.