Merge conflicts are an inevitable part of working with Git, especially when collaborating on projects with multiple contributors. A merge conflict occurs when Git is unable to automatically merge changes from two branches because both branches have conflicting changes to the same part of a file. However, resolving merge conflicts is a skill every Git user should master to maintain a smooth and efficient workflow.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to identify, resolve, and commit merge conflicts in Git.
❓ What Is a Merge Conflict?
A merge conflict happens when:
- Two branches have made changes to the same line in the same file.
- One branch has made changes to a file that has been deleted in another branch.
Git cannot decide which changes should take precedence, so it marks the file as conflicted and requires manual intervention.
✅ How to Identify a Merge Conflict
When you attempt to merge two branches that have conflicting changes, Git will notify you with a message like this:
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
To see which files have conflicts, run:
git status
You’ll see output similar to this:
both modified: filename
This means the file filename has conflicts that need to be resolved.
✅ How to Resolve Merge Conflicts
🔹 Step 1: Open the Conflicted File
Git marks conflicted files with conflict markers like:
<<<<<<< HEAD
Your changes (current branch)
=======
Changes from the branch you're merging
>>>>>>> branch-name
- The section between
<<<<<<< HEADand=======represents the changes in your current branch. - The section between
=======and>>>>>>> branch-namerepresents the changes from the branch you’re merging.
🔹 Step 2: Edit the File
You need to manually resolve the conflict by choosing either:
- Keeping your changes
- Keeping the incoming changes
- Combining both sets of changes logically
After deciding how to resolve the conflict, remove the conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>) from the file.
🔹 Step 3: Stage the Resolved File
Once you’ve resolved the conflicts in the file, you need to stage the file for commit:
git add filename
You can stage multiple files if necessary:
git add .
🔹 Step 4: Commit the Merge
After staging the resolved files, commit the merge:
git commit -m "Resolved merge conflict in filename"
Git will create a commit with a default message indicating that it was a merge.
🛠 Tools for Resolving Merge Conflicts
While you can always resolve merge conflicts manually in your text editor, there are tools that can make the process easier:
- VS Code: Provides a graphical interface to view and resolve conflicts.
- GitKraken: A Git GUI tool with a visual conflict resolution interface.
- Sourcetree: Another Git GUI tool that simplifies conflict resolution.
git mergetool: A command-line tool that opens an external merge tool for conflict resolution.
To use git mergetool, first, make sure you have a merge tool configured:
git config --global merge.tool meld # Or your preferred tool
Then run:
git mergetool
✅ How to Abort a Merge (If Necessary)
If you encounter a situation where you no longer wish to resolve the conflict, you can abort the merge and return to the state before the merge began:
git merge --abort
For rebases, the command is:
git rebase --abort
🧠 Tips for Preventing Merge Conflicts
- Pull frequently: Regularly pulling changes from the main branch helps avoid long-running divergences.
- Keep changes small: Make small, focused commits, so it’s easier to resolve conflicts.
- Use feature branches: Work in feature branches and only merge them back to the main branch when they are complete.
✅ Summary
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Check for merge conflicts | git status |
| Resolve conflicts manually | Edit file, remove conflict markers |
| Stage resolved file | git add filename |
| Commit the merge | git commit -m "Resolved conflict" |
| Abort a merge | git merge --abort |
| Use mergetool (optional) | git mergetool |
🚀 Final Thoughts
Merge conflicts are an inevitable part of collaborative workflows, but knowing how to resolve them effectively is key to a smooth development process. By staying organized, using the right tools, and communicating with your team, you can minimize the chances of conflicts and handle them swiftly when they occur.
