Learn how to resolve merge conflicts in Git by viewing both sets of changes and deciding which to keep, with our step-by-step guide on handling them.
This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s Git & GitHub training materials and is compatible with updates through 2022. To continue learning web development with hands-on training, check out our coding bootcamps in NYC and live online.
Merging Changes
Sometimes you’ll get a conflict when pulling, reverting commits, merging branches, etc. For example, you and another developer unknowingly both work on the same part of a file. The other developer pushes their changes to the remote repo. When you then pull them to your local repo you’ll get a merge conflict. Luckily Git has a way to handle conflicts, so you can see both sets of changes and decide which you want to keep.
What To Do With a Merge Conflict
- When you get a merge conflict, open a conflicted file. They are listed in the Source Control panel
under Merge Changes. -
In the conflicted file, look for these conflict markers:
<<<<<<< HEAD(Current Change)
Marks the start of the changes.=======
Divides your changes from the changes in the other branch.>>>>>>> branch-name(Incoming Change)
Marks the end of the changes. -
Now you must decide how to resolve the conflict. Above the change you can choose various ways to handle it:
- Accept Current Change
- Accept Incoming Change
- Accept Both Changes
- Compare Changes
Look at the code and choose whichever is appropriate for this case.
After accepting the change, you can make further edits to the code as needed. - Save the file.
- After you’ve handled all the conflicts, in the Source Control panel stage the changes by hovering over Merge Changes and clicking the plus (+) that appears to its right.
- At the top of the Source Control panel click the Commit button
. Push whenever you’re ready to upload those changes to GitHub so others can get them.
