When working on collaborative projects using Git, you may occasionally run into merge conflicts—situations where Git can’t automatically reconcile differences between branches. These conflicts can seem intimidating at first, but with the right approach, they’re easy to resolve.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to identify, resolve, and commit conflict fixes in Git.
❓ What Is a Git Merge Conflict?
A merge conflict occurs when:
- Two branches have modified the same part of a file, and Git cannot determine which version to keep.
- A file has been deleted in one branch but modified in another.
These situations require manual intervention to tell Git how to proceed.
🔍 How to Identify a Merge Conflict
When you try to merge, rebase, or pull changes, you might see an error like:
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
To view the conflicted files:
git status
It will list conflicted files under:
Unmerged paths:
(use "git add <file>..." to mark resolution)
✅ Steps to Fix a Merge Conflict
🔹 Step 1: Open the Conflicted File
Git will mark the conflict inside the file like this:
<<<<<<< HEAD
Your changes (current branch)
=======
Incoming changes (branch being merged)
>>>>>>> branch-name
You need to manually edit the file and decide which version to keep—or combine them.
🔹 Step 2: Edit and Resolve the Conflict
Decide between:
- Keeping your changes
- Keeping the incoming changes
- Merging both logically
Then, remove the conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>) from the file.
🔹 Step 3: Stage the Resolved File
Once you’ve resolved the conflict, stage the file:
git add filename
🔹 Step 4: Complete the Merge or Rebase
If you were merging:
git commit -m "Resolved merge conflict in filename"
If you were rebasing:
git rebase --continue
🛠 Tools That Help Resolve Conflicts
- VS Code: Offers a graphical merge editor.
- GitKraken / Sourcetree: Visual tools to manage conflicts.
git mergetool: Launches an external tool to assist in resolving conflicts.
To launch the default mergetool:
git mergetool
You can configure which tool to use via:
git config --global merge.tool meld # or your tool of choice
🚫 How to Abort a Merge (If Needed)
If you’re stuck or want to start over:
git merge --abort
For rebases:
git rebase --abort
✅ Summary
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Check for conflicts | git status |
| Manually resolve in file | Edit and remove conflict markers |
| Stage resolved files | git add filename |
| Complete the merge | git commit |
| Abort a merge (optional) | git merge --abort |
| Use merge tool (optional) | git mergetool |
🚀 Final Thoughts
Merge conflicts are a normal part of Git-based workflows. The key is to stay calm, understand the differences, and resolve them logically. With practice, you’ll handle conflicts smoothly—and even learn how to prevent them with smart branching strategies.
