How do I exit from the text window in Git?

Question

I am using Windows and before committing, Git wants me to enter a text message and a new text window appears.

screenshot

How can I exit from this?

I am trying to learn Git. So, a little help will be highly appreciated.

possible duplicate of [Git commit asking for comment](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5668191/git-commit-asking-for-comment) — Cascabel, Feb 07 '12 at 05:27
@johnny: Now that *is* odd. Can you open that file in another editor? — johnsyweb, Feb 07 '12 at 22:07
@Johnsyweb, I'm just reading the screenshot. It happened to me once too. I just removed the write protection in windows explorer and it has worked ever since. — johnny, Feb 08 '12 at 06:22
5 years on, and with this being a [famous question](https://stackoverflow.com/help/badges/28/famous-question?userid=1115545), would you like to accept an answer? — aaron, Dec 19 '17 at 03:49

score 288 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

288

Since you are learning Git, know that this has little to do with git but with the text editor configured for use. In vim, you can press i to start entering text and save by pressing esc and :wq and enter, this will commit with the message you typed. In your current state, to just come out without committing, you can do :q instead of the :wq as mentioned above.

Alternatively, you can just do git commit -m '<message>' instead of having git open the editor to type the message.

Note that you can also change the editor and use something you are comfortable with ( like notepad) - How can I set up an editor to work with Git on Windows?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

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answered Feb 07 '12 at 05:32

manojlds

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I recommend setting the editor to your favorite editor. Then use the command line version (git commit -m '...') when it fits, or let it launch your editor (TextMate, Notepad, whatever) when it doesn't – Gal Aug 26 '15 at 00:18
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esc then :wq and enter, great – Suhail Mumtaz Awan Jan 18 '17 at 09:23

score 81 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

81

There is a default text editor that will be used when Git needs you to type in a message. By default, Git uses your system’s default editor, which is generally Vi or Vim. In your case, it is Vim that Git has chosen. See How do I make Git use the editor of my choice for commits? for details of how to choose another editor. Meanwhile...

You'll want to enter a message before you leave Vim:

O

...will start a new line for you to type in.

To exit (g)Vim type:

EscZZ or Esc:wqReturn.

It's worth getting to know Vim, as you can use it for editing text on almost any platform. I recommend the Vim Tutor, I used it many years ago and have never looked back (barely a day goes by when I don't use Vim).

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Feb 07 '12 at 05:29

johnsyweb

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It's hard to see whether the 'O' is upper or lower case. A lower case 'o' causes the message to be written on the second row. – johnny Feb 07 '12 at 09:33
I guess it depends on your font. Hopefully the document to which it's hyperlinked will help disambiguate. – johnsyweb Feb 07 '12 at 11:53
It's worth getting to know vim so you can quit it from a wide variety of applications that default to it. – djechlin Sep 16 '17 at 21:35

score 59 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 28 '20 at 08:12

59

That's the vi editor. Try ESC :q!.

edited Oct 28 '20 at 08:12

A.R.SEIF

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answered Feb 07 '12 at 05:24

J-16 SDiZ

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Actually, it's Vim (see the title bar). – hammar Feb 07 '12 at 05:27
it worked all the time, by now it's always being in INSERT mode, I press ESC but nothing changes! it's still edits commits – user924 Jan 27 '22 at 16:22

score 17 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 08 '18 at 15:57

17

On Windows 10 this worked for me for VIM and VI using git bash

"Esc" + ":wq!"

or

"Esc" + ":q!"

answered Jul 08 '18 at 15:57

atazmin

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score 14 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 13 '20 at 06:47

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On windows I used the following command

:wq

and it aborts the previous commit because of the empty commit message

edited Apr 13 '20 at 06:47

Mayank Pandeyz

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answered Jul 11 '18 at 15:44

Riya Abraham

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press The better the key `Esc` before – A.R.SEIF Oct 27 '20 at 07:27

score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 25 '20 at 17:58

8

First type

to enter the commit message then press ESC then type

:wq

to save the commit message and to quit. Or type

:q!

to quit without saving the message.

answered Jul 25 '20 at 17:58

Prashant Kumar Gupta

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Thank you for a precise answer. – essbee Dec 01 '21 at 13:42

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 14 '18 at 10:45

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On windows, simply pressing 'q' on the keyboard quits this screen. I got it when I was reading help using '!help' or simply 'help' and 'enter', from the DOS prompt.

Happy Coding :-)

answered Aug 14 '18 at 10:45

Abhinav Saxena

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score -1 · Answer 8 · answered May 24 '22 at 05:35

-1

try

:wq

it works for both windows 10 and windows 11

answered May 24 '22 at 05:35

gongool

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This is already covered by the other answers. I don't see what your answer adds... – Dada May 24 '22 at 14:30

How do I exit from the text window in Git?

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