git branch ~(END) on terminal?

Question

To note, I'm on Oh-My-Zsh and git 2.17. Whenever I type in git branch, instead of showing me the branches of my git, it shows something like this:

~
~
~
~
~
(END)

I can quit this by pressing 'q' on my keyboard, but I'm still confused as to why this is appearing.

Possible duplicate of [git-branch command behaves like less](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48341920/git-branch-command-behaves-like-less) — phd, Jun 25 '18 at 09:26

score 133 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 25 '18 at 02:57

133

Git pipes long output into what's called a pager by default, which can make it easier to view the output if it doesn't fit on a screen. The ~ characters indicate that those lines were not in the original output, but it's showing them so that you can scroll down past the bottom (i.e. the last line of output can go up to the top of the screen).

You typically can use the arrow keys to scroll up or down, and can exit by pressing q.

answered Jun 25 '18 at 02:57

Gary Mendonca

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Right, I understand that part of git. But what I'm concerned about is that running git init then git branch doesn't show me anything. – Brian Park Jun 25 '18 at 03:02
2

It's because you have not committed anything. git branch displays all branches. Since a branch points to a commit and you have not performed commit , it displays nothing – Gary Mendonca Jun 25 '18 at 03:05
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Thank you! Just a question, is there a reason that it doesn't show the master branch? – Brian Park Jun 25 '18 at 03:07
Any branch in git points to the last commit. Even the master branch needs a commit to be displayed. So , it does not even show the master branch. – Gary Mendonca Jun 25 '18 at 03:09
Ah, I see. Thank you so much! – Brian Park Jun 25 '18 at 03:11
@BrianPark If you've ever used Vim, there also this kind of thing is shown to indicate lines. – cst1992 Jun 25 '18 at 03:36
`can exit by pressing q` helps – Shailendra Madda Dec 16 '22 at 19:25

score 56 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 04 '18 at 09:51

56

You can replace the pager with less so it doesn't "scroll" outputs less than the height of the terminal.

git config --global --replace-all core.pager "less -F -X"

I found it from this q. Took a while to find compared to OPs questions, so I figured I'd drop it here in case anyone else has the same issue.

https://stackoverflow.com/a/14118014/4881742

answered Dec 04 '18 at 09:51

Fred

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In macOS git this is extremely necessary, otherwise it gets stuck in ~end Worked perfectly! Thanks!! – Bayma Bruno Feb 13 '23 at 15:30

score 21 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 25 '18 at 03:34

21

Note that:

git -P branch would display an empty list, without pager (Git 2.18 for the -P)
git branch | less -F would do the same
export LESS=-JMQRiFX followed by any Git command would avoid the pager (for any result less than a screen)

answered Jun 25 '18 at 03:34

VonC

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score 10 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 25 '22 at 10:20

10

you can use this " git config --global core.pager cat " to change your git configuration to set that as default the problem is sometime when you use or install Oh My Zsh the configuration is change

answered Feb 25 '22 at 10:20

Riantra

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Perfect. Oh My Zsh was probably why. It's been one of those things I've just dealt with. Then one day it's, "You know what, I'm fixing this". lol Thanks. – Wade Aug 18 '22 at 03:46
worked perfectly, like charm – anandhu Oct 08 '22 at 08:27

git branch ~(END) on terminal?

4 Answers4

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