git worktree: Work on Multiple Branches Without Switching

Problem

You’re deep in a feature branch when a hotfix request comes in. Stash changes, checkout main, create a hotfix branch, fix the bug, push, then switch back and pop the stash. Repeat this several times a day and it gets old fast.

Solution

git worktree lets you check out multiple branches into separate directories from a single repo.

# Open main branch in a separate directory
git worktree add ../project-main main

# Create a new branch with a worktree
git worktree add ../project-hotfix -b hotfix/login-bug

# Open an existing branch
git worktree add ../project-review feature/api-v2

Now work in each directory independently. No branch switching needed.

# Open multiple editor windows for simultaneous work
code ../project-main      # main branch
code ../project-hotfix    # hotfix branch
code .                    # current feature branch

Managing worktrees is straightforward:

# List all worktrees
git worktree list
# /home/user/project              abc1234 [feature/auth]
# /home/user/project-main         def5678 [main]
# /home/user/project-hotfix       ghi9012 [hotfix/login-bug]

# Remove a finished worktree
git worktree remove ../project-hotfix

# Clean up manually deleted worktree directories
git worktree prune

Worktrees share .git data, so they use far less disk space than a full git clone. Commit history is shared across all worktrees.

Key Points

git worktree add <path> <branch> opens a branch in a separate directory
Work on multiple branches simultaneously without checkout
Shares .git data — much lighter than cloning
Clean up with git worktree remove when done
The same branch cannot be checked out in two worktrees at once