How do you undo your most recent commit without losing the work?

beginner

Re-explain

git reset --soft HEAD~1 undoes the last commit and keeps the changes staged, ready to commit again. Reset moves the branch pointer back one commit. Your files on disk never change.

git reset --soft HEAD~1   # commit undone, changes stay staged
git reset HEAD~1          # same, but changes end up unstaged

The default mode, --mixed, keeps the work unstaged instead. The --hard mode throws away your edits, so avoid it here.

Reset only moves your local branch, so use git revert HEAD for a commit you already pushed. Revert adds a new commit that undoes the old one, and nobody's history is rewritten.

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Likely follow-ups

Say you had already pushed that commit. What would you do instead, and why? A strong answer uses git revert HEAD, says it adds a new commit that undoes the old one, and explains that reset would rewrite history teammates already pulled.
What exactly is the difference between --soft, --mixed, and --hard? A strong answer says what each mode does to the staging area and to the working tree, and points out that only --hard deletes your edits.
You ran reset --hard by mistake. How do you get the commit back? A strong answer uses git reflog to find where HEAD was and resets back to that entry. Uncommitted edits that --hard wiped are not in the reflog.
What if you only need to fix the commit message or add a file you forgot? A strong answer names git commit --amend, says the amended commit gets a new hash, and warns against amending a commit you already pushed.
How would you undo your last three commits and still keep all the work? A strong answer uses HEAD~3 with --soft or --mixed and says the changes from all three commits come back together as one set of edits.

What you can say

I'd run git reset --soft HEAD~1. It undoes the last commit and leaves the changes staged, so I can commit them again.
Reset moves the branch pointer back one commit, and the files on disk don't change at all.
If I want the changes unstaged, plain git reset HEAD~1 does that, because --mixed is the default mode.
I'd stay away from --hard here, because it throws the edits away.
Reset only moves my local branch. If the commit is already pushed, I'd use git revert HEAD, which adds a new commit that undoes it and rewrites nobody's history.

Weak answers to avoid

Reaches for reset --hard That mode deletes the edits, which is the opposite of what was asked. Say that --soft or --mixed keeps the work and that --hard is the one to avoid.
Ignores whether the commit was pushed Resetting a shared commit rewrites history that others have pulled. Say reset is for local commits and git revert HEAD is the safe undo after a push.
Says reset wipes out the commit's changes With --soft or --mixed, reset moves only the branch pointer and your files stay as they are. Explain that the pointer moves and the work stays.

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Likely follow-ups, what you can say, and the weak answers to avoid.

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