In collaborative software development, it’s common to work on feature branches while the master (or main) branch continues to evolve. To keep your branch up to date and avoid merge conflicts, it’s important to regularly sync your branch with master.
In this post, we’ll walk through how to update your branch from master using Git, and explain the differences between merging and rebasing.
🧭 Why Update Your Branch from master?
Keeping your branch up to date helps you:
- Integrate the latest changes from the main codebase
- Avoid large or complex merge conflicts later
- Ensure your features work with the most current code
🔧 Prerequisites
Make sure you have:
- Git installed
- A local clone of your repository
- Your feature branch checked out
✅ Method 1: Merging master into Your Branch (Safe & Recommended)
This is the safest and most common method for teams.
Step-by-Step:
# Switch to your feature branch
git checkout feature-branch
# Fetch the latest changes from the remote
git fetch origin
# Merge the latest master into your branch
git merge origin/master
This creates a merge commit in your branch that includes all changes from master.
Example:
git checkout feature/login-page
git fetch origin
git merge origin/master
✅ Method 2: Rebasing Your Branch onto master (Clean History)
Rebasing rewrites your branch’s history to appear as if your changes were made on top of the latest master.
Step-by-Step:
# Switch to your feature branch
git checkout feature-branch
# Fetch the latest changes
git fetch origin
# Rebase your branch onto the latest master
git rebase origin/master
Example:
git checkout feature/login-page
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/master
If there are conflicts during rebase, Git will pause and allow you to resolve them manually. After resolving:
git add .
git rebase --continue
To cancel the rebase at any time:
git rebase --abort
⚠️ Warning: Never rebase a shared branch unless you coordinate with your team. Rewriting history can cause issues for collaborators.
🛠️ Push Updates (If Needed)
After merging or rebasing, if your branch is being tracked remotely, push your updates:
- After merge:
git push origin feature-branch - After rebase (force push required):
git push --force origin feature-branch
🔄 Merge vs. Rebase: What’s the Difference?
| Feature | Merge | Rebase |
|---|---|---|
| Keeps original history | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (rewrites history) |
| Creates merge commits | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (linear history) |
| Safe for teams | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Use with caution |
| Cleaner history | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
✅ Conclusion
Updating your branch from master is an essential Git skill for every developer. Whether you choose to merge or rebase, keeping your branch current helps avoid conflicts and ensures a smooth integration process.
Choose the method that fits your team’s workflow, and remember: merge is safer, rebase is cleaner—use each wisely!
