Fixing “Your local changes would be overwritten by merge”

You run git pull, expecting a quiet update, and Git throws this at you instead:

git pull origin master
remote: Enumerating objects: 14, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (14/14), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (6/6), done.
remote: Total 14 (delta 8), reused 14 (delta 8), pack-reused 0
Unpacking objects: 100% (14/14), done.
From github.com:user/repo
 * branch            master     -> FETCH_HEAD
   953146e..9f38420  master     -> origin/master
error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge:
 List of your local files ...

That error means you have uncommitted changes in your working directory that clash with what you are about to pull in. Here is why Git stops you, three ways to fix it, and the one command I actually use.

Why Git Blocks the Pull: Uncommitted Local Changes

git pull runs git fetch and then, by default, merges the fetched branch into your current one — that is documented behaviour, not an implementation detail. A merge has to combine changes from both branches, and if your uncommitted edits touch the same lines as the incoming commits, Git cannot work out which version you want. Rather than guess, it stops and shows you the error instead of quietly overwriting your work.

Solutions: How to Keep Local Changes During git pull, Without Losing Your Work

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Final thoughts

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References

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