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← Level 0: The basics · Mission 3 of 5

Give every project an undo button: Git without memorising a single command

Your AI coder just broke the thing that worked an hour ago, and with Git that's one key to undo. Git is the save-and-undo system behind every project on GitHub, and lazygit puts it all on one screen with single-key shortcuts, so there's nothing to memorise. Practise in a throwaway folder, then use it on anything.

30 minBeginnerTools: FreeStep 1 free
Tested 9 Oct 2026 · lazygit 0.66.0, Git 2.52, Windows 11
lazygit installeda one-screen control panel for Git that runs in your terminal
Save points you can undo, and a way to look at any old version of your files
Branches for trying ideas without breaking the version that works
  • The 5 panels and a 10-key cheat sheet you can print
  • A safety net for AI coding tools: save before they edit, undo in one key if they break something
Before you start
01/06Install lazygit and tell Git who you are0 done
STEP 01 of 06~6 min

Install lazygit and tell Git who you are

lazygit is one small program. Git also needs a name to put on your save points, or saving fails.

  1. lazygit is free and open source (MIT licence, over 83,000 stars on GitHub). It doesn't replace Git: it runs the normal Git commands for you and shows you what happened. So check Git is there first:

    Terminal
    git --version
    Output
    git version 2.52.0.windows.1

  2. Now tell Git your name and email, before anything else. Every save point is labelled with them, and without them your first save fails. Any name is fine:

    Terminal
    git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
    TipThat email is stored inside every save. If you'll ever put a project on GitHub publicly, use the private "noreply" address GitHub offers in its email settings instead of your real one.

  3. Then install lazygit. The quickest way is the one-liner from lazygit's official README:

    Windows
    winget install -e --id=JesseDuffield.lazygit
    Mac
    brew install lazygit

  4. Close the terminal, open a new one, and check it works:

    Terminal
    lazygit --version
    Output
    commit=c5f71581..., build date=2026-10-05T17:12:24Z, build source=binaryRelease, version=0.66.0, os=windows, arch=amd64, git version=2.52.0.windows.1

  5. No winget, or rather not install anything?Download the windows_x86_64.zip file for the latest version (about 7.5MB, named like lazygit_0.66.0_windows_x86_64.zip) from the official releases page ↗, then unzip it and point the lazygit command at it. Change the version number in the first line to match your download:

    Windows, no installer
    Expand-Archive $HOME\Downloads\lazygit_0.66.0_windows_x86_64.zip -DestinationPath $HOME\tools\lazygit
Set-Alias lazygit "$HOME\tools\lazygit\lazygit.exe"
lazygit --version

  6. Set-Alias only lasts until you close that window, so run that line again in each new terminal. Nothing on your PC is changed permanently.

    Tipwinget can be a release behind GitHub. Either version is fine for this mission.
✓
Checkpointgit config --global user.name prints your name, and lazygit --version prints a version number.
If it breaks'lazygit' is not recognised + 1 more
'lazygit' is not recognised
Close every terminal and open a new one: new programs only show up in new windows. Still failing? Use the no-installer route above, and remember to run the Set-Alias line in each new window.
Expand-Archive says the path doesn't exist
Check the zip's exact name in your Downloads folder (the version number changes with each release) and use that name in the command.
Still stuck? Ask the community
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