A stash saves unfinished working changes and restores a clean tracked workspace. Applying a stash restores its changes; popping also removes that saved entry after a successful application. A stash is not a replacement for a committed team handoff. Inspect both the working files and the stash list when you recover the work. These tasks ask you to restore a specific draft while keeping its original base commit intact. After pop, status should show the recovered edit again and the stash list should lose that entry. If application conflicts, inspect the conflict and saved entry instead of assuming the pop removed your backup.