How do I force "git pull" to overwrite local files?
git, git-fetch, git-pull, overwrite, version-control
Solution
⚠ Warning:
Any uncommitted local change to tracked files will be lost, even if staged.
But any local file that's not tracked by Git will not be affected.
First, update all `origin/<branch>` refs to latest:
git fetch --all
Backup your current branch (e.g. `master`):
git branch backup-master
Jump to the latest commit on `origin/master` and checkout those files:
git reset --hard origin/master
Explanation:
`git fetch` downloads the latest from remote without trying to merge or rebase anything.
`git reset` resets the master branch to what you just fetched. The `--hard` option changes all the files in your working tree to match the files in `origin/master`.
Maintain current local commits
[*]: It's worth noting that it is possible to maintain current local commits by creating a branch from `master` before resetting:
git checkout master
git branch new-branch-to-save-current-commits
git fetch --all
git reset --hard origin/master
After this, all of the old commits will be kept in `new-branch-to-save-current-commits`.
Uncommitted changes
Uncommitted changes, even if staged (with `git add`), will be lost. Make sure to `stash` or commit anything you need. For example, run the following:
git stash
And later (after `git reset`), reapply these uncommitted changes:
git stash pop
Which may create merge conflicts.
Problem
How do I force an overwrite of local files on a `git pull`? My local repository contains a file of the same filename as on the server. error: Untracked working tree file 'example.txt' would be overwritten by merge