How to fix Nothing to do in Git

GitBEGINNERLOW

The 'Nothing to do' message appears when Git's interactive rebase has no commits to process. This typically occurs when the rebase todo list is empty, either because all lines were deleted, you're rebasing HEAD onto itself, or there are no commits between the specified range.

What this error means

This message appears during an interactive rebase (`git rebase -i`) when Git determines there are no commits to rebase. The rebase todo file (where you specify which commits to pick, squash, or edit) is either empty or all commit lines have been removed. When you run `git rebase -i <commit>`, Git opens an editor with a list of commits between `<commit>` and your current HEAD. If this list is empty or you delete all the lines before saving, Git responds with "Nothing to do" and aborts the rebase operation. This is Git's way of saying: "You asked me to rebase, but there are no commits to process." This can happen intentionally (when you change your mind during an interactive rebase) or unintentionally (due to editor issues, incorrect commit ranges, or branch misunderstandings).

How to fix "Nothing to do"

1Verify the commit range includes commits

First, check that the commit range you're specifying actually contains commits:

bash

# View commits that would be rebased
git log --oneline HEAD~5..HEAD

# If you're rebasing onto a branch, check commits between them
git log --oneline main..HEAD

# Count commits in the range
git rev-list --count main..HEAD

If the output shows no commits, the range is empty and there's genuinely nothing to rebase.

Common mistake: Using HEAD~0 which is just HEAD itself:

bash

# Wrong - no commits to rebase
git rebase -i HEAD~0

# Correct - rebase last 3 commits
git rebase -i HEAD~3

2Use the 'drop' command instead of deleting lines

If you want to abort a rebase without processing commits, use the drop command instead of deleting all lines:

text

# Instead of deleting this line:
pick abc1234 Some commit message

# Change it to:
drop abc1234 Some commit message

Why this matters:
- Deleting all lines = "Nothing to do" / abort rebase
- Using drop = explicitly tell Git to skip those commits

The rebase todo file even warns about this:

text

# If you remove a line here THAT COMMIT WILL BE LOST.
# However, if you remove everything, the rebase will be aborted.

3Check and fix your editor configuration

If your editor (especially VS Code) isn't configured properly, Git may see an empty file:

For VS Code:

bash

# Configure VS Code as the Git editor with --wait flag
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"

# Verify the setting
git config --global core.editor

For other editors:

bash

# Vim (default)
git config --global core.editor "vim"

# Nano
git config --global core.editor "nano"

# Sublime Text
git config --global core.editor "subl -n -w"

# Atom
git config --global core.editor "atom --wait"

# Notepad++ (Windows)
git config --global core.editor "'C:/Program Files/Notepad++/notepad++.exe' -multiInst -notabbar -nosession -noPlugin"

The --wait flag is crucial - it tells the editor to wait until you close the file before returning control to Git.

4Clean up stuck rebase state

If you have leftover state from a previous rebase, clean it up:

bash

# Check if a rebase is in progress
git status

# If you see "rebase in progress" or "interactive rebase in progress"
# Abort any existing rebase
git rebase --abort

If that doesn't work, manually clean the rebase directory:

bash

# Check for rebase directories
ls -la .git/rebase-merge
ls -la .git/rebase-apply

# If they exist and you want to clean up (be careful!)
rm -rf .git/rebase-merge
rm -rf .git/rebase-apply

Warning: Only manually delete these directories if git rebase --abort doesn't work and you're sure no important state is in progress.

5Fetch and check branch synchronization

The "Nothing to do" message can appear when your branch is already in sync:

bash

# Fetch latest changes from remote
git fetch origin

# Check if your branch is behind/ahead
git status

# If rebasing onto a remote branch, use the tracking reference
git rebase -i origin/main

# NOT just 'main' if your local main is outdated
git rebase -i main  # might show nothing to do if local main = current HEAD

Check divergence:

bash

# See how branches relate
git log --oneline --graph main HEAD

# View commits that would be rebased
git log --oneline main..HEAD

6Use noop for intentionally empty rebases

If you legitimately need to start a rebase that might be empty (for scripting purposes), you can use noop:

text

# In the rebase todo file, add:
noop

# This tells Git to perform a no-operation rebase
# It won't abort and will complete successfully

The noop command has been available since Git 1.6.0.3 specifically for this purpose.

Use case: When you want to trigger rebase hooks or test rebase behavior without actually modifying commits.

7Verify with a test interactive rebase

After fixing the issue, verify everything works:

bash

# Create a test commit
echo "test" >> test-file.txt
git add test-file.txt
git commit -m "Test commit for rebase"

# Try interactive rebase
git rebase -i HEAD~1

# You should see something like:
# pick abc1234 Test commit for rebase

# Change 'pick' to 'reword' and save
# Git should open editor for new commit message

# Clean up test commit
git reset --hard HEAD~1

If the test works, your configuration is correct.

Advanced notes

### Understanding the Rebase Todo File

When you run git rebase -i, Git creates a todo file at .git/rebase-merge/git-rebase-todo. This file contains:

text

pick abc1234 First commit message
pick def5678 Second commit message
pick ghi9012 Third commit message

# Rebase xyz..ghi onto xyz (3 commands)
#
# Commands:
# p, pick = use commit
# r, reword = use commit, but edit the commit message
# e, edit = use commit, but stop for amending
# s, squash = use commit, but meld into previous commit
# f, fixup = like "squash", but discard this commit's log message
# d, drop = remove commit
#
# If you remove a line here THAT COMMIT WILL BE LOST.
# However, if you remove everything, the rebase will be aborted.

### GitLens and VS Code Issues

VS Code with GitLens extension sometimes has issues with interactive rebase:

1. Empty editor bug: The todo file may appear empty in VS Code while the actual file contains commits
2. Timing issue: VS Code may return control to Git before the file is saved
3. Extension conflicts: Multiple Git extensions can interfere with each other

Workarounds:

bash

# Temporarily use a simpler editor
GIT_EDITOR=vim git rebase -i HEAD~3

# Or configure Git to use a specific editor for rebase
git config --global sequence.editor "vim"

### Rebase Autosquash

If using fixup! or squash! commit prefixes, you might see "Nothing to do" if:

bash

# This requires commits with matching prefixes to exist
git rebase -i --autosquash main

# If no fixup!/squash! commits exist, behavior might be unexpected

### The Root Commit Edge Case

You cannot interactively rebase the root (first) commit normally:

bash

# This won't work for the first commit
git rebase -i HEAD~1  # when HEAD is the first commit

# Use --root flag instead
git rebase -i --root

### Debugging Rebase Issues

bash

# Enable rebase verbosity
GIT_TRACE=1 git rebase -i HEAD~3

# Check what Git sees in the todo file
cat .git/rebase-merge/git-rebase-todo

# Verify editor behavior
GIT_EDITOR="cat" git rebase -i HEAD~3
# This shows the todo file without modification

### Preserving Empty Commits

By default, Git drops commits that become empty during rebase:

bash

# Keep commits that were originally empty
git rebase -i --keep-empty HEAD~5

# Keep commits that become empty due to changes
git rebase -i --empty=keep HEAD~5

How to fix Nothing to do in Git

What this error means

Typical symptoms

Common causes

How to fix "Nothing to do"

Advanced notes

Related errors

Official resources & further reading