Docker Compose Tip #7: Restarting single services without stopping the stack

Stop doing docker compose down && docker compose up for every code change. Docker Compose lets you restart individual services while keeping the rest running. The solution Restart just what changed: # Restart only the web service docker compose up -d web # Your database, cache, and queue keep running! This simple command saves minutes per restart. Your database keeps its data, Redis maintains its cache, message queues preserve their state. ...

January 13, 2026 · 3 min · 439 words · Guillaume Lours