10 Most Common Git Problems (and How To Resolve Them)

1. Problem: Merge Conflicts

   • Solution: When you get a merge conflict, Git will tell you which files are in conflict. Open these files and look for the lines that Git has marked with <<<<<<<, =======, and >>>>>>>. These markers separate the conflicting changes. Manually combine the changes, then add and commit the resolved files.

2. Problem: Committing to the Wrong Branch

   • Solution: If you've accidentally committed to the wrong branch, you can undo this by switching to the correct branch and using git cherry-pick to apply the commit. Then, go back to the wrong branch and use git reset --hard HEAD~1 to remove the last commit.

3. Problem: Forgot to Add Files to a Commit

   • Solution: If you forgot to add some files to your last commit, add the files with git add and then use git commit --amend. This will let you update the previous commit with the new changes.

4. Problem: Pushing Fails due to Remote Changes

   • Solution: If git push fails because there are remote changes you don’t have, first use git pull to merge those changes into your local branch. Then you can push your changes after resolving any conflicts.

5. Problem: Lost Commits or Branches

   • Solution: If you've lost track of a commit or branch, use git reflog to find it. The reflog is a log of everything you've done in Git, and you can often find your lost commits there.

6. Problem: Accidentally Deleted a Commit

   • Solution: If you've deleted a commit by accident, git reflog is again your friend. Find the commit in the reflog and use git checkout to move to it, or use git reset --hard commit_sha to restore your branch to that commit.

7. Problem: Reverting a Commit

   • Solution: To undo a commit that has already been pushed, use git revert commit_sha. This will create a new commit that undoes the changes.

8. Problem: Removing Untracked Files

   • Solution: To clean your working directory from untracked files, use git clean. Be careful with this command because it will delete files from your disk. You can use git clean -n to do a dry run and see which files would be deleted.

9. Problem: Git Repository is Too Large

   • Solution: If your repository is too large, it might be because of large files. You can find large files with git lfs (Large File Storage) or rewrite history to remove them completely with git filter-branch. Make sure to back up your repository before doing this.

10. Problem: Forgot to Ignore Files

    • Solution: If you forgot to ignore files and they've already been added to the repository, first add them to your .gitignore file. Then, use git rm --cached to remove them from the repository without deleting them from your local filesystem.