Did you know you can sort git branches by commit dates?

Git 2.7 and Newer

Starting from git 2.7 (Q4 2015) you can use the --sort option:

git branch --sort=committerdate

If you want the most recent branch on top, add a - in front of the sort type:

git branch --sort=-committerdate

If you always want this behavior you can set it as a default:

git config --global branch.sort --committerdate
git branch # will now show sorted by committer date always

from man git-branch:

--sort=<key>
   Sort based on the key given. Prefix - to sort in descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary key. The keys supported are the same as those in git for-each-ref. Sort order defaults to the value configured for the branch.sort variable if exists, or to sorting based
   on the full refname (including refs/... prefix). This lists detached HEAD (if present) first, then local branches and finally remote-tracking branches. See git-config(1).

For more sorting options, See the FIELD NAMES section in man git-for-each-ref

Older Versions of Git

Older versions of git can use for-each-ref:

git for-each-ref --sort=-committerdate refs/heads/

Here you would pass refs/heads, refs/remotes, refs/tags or just refs/ for all kinds. You can also combine them by adding spaces in between.

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