How to Update a Git Submodule to a New Commit?

Deepak Sharma — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:17:38 +0000

Updating a Git submodule to the latest commit point (the latest version of the submodule repository) is straightforward.

Go inside the submodule folder.
cd path/to/submodule

Pull the latest changes (or checkout a specific commit)

git pull origin main

git checkout <commit-hash>

Example:

git checkout 8fd91c2

This will update your repo on that commit or branch. Prefer to use the commit point.

Go back to the parent repo

cd ../../

Add the updated submodule reference

git add path/to/submodule

Commit the updated submodule “pointer”

git commit -m “Updated submodule to latest commit”

Push the update

git push

What Actually Happens?

A submodule stores only a commit reference to another repository.
So when you:

…you are updating which commit the parent repo points to.

Contact for More Information

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DEV Community: Deepak Sharma