Resolving Merge Conflicts

Merge conflicts occur when two branches change the same part of the same file in different ways. Git cannot decide which version to keep — it pauses the merge and asks you to resolve it manually. This is normal and nothing to fear.

01.Reading Conflict Markers

Git edits conflicted files and inserts markers. The section between "<<<<<<< HEAD" and "=======" is YOUR current version. The section between "=======" and ">>>>>>> feature/x" is the INCOMING version from the other branch. You must edit the file to the desired final state and remove ALL three marker lines completely.

index.html — CONFLICT

<html>

<body>

<<<<<<< HEAD (your version)

<h1>Welcome Back!</h1>

=======

<h1>Hello, World!</h1>

>>>>>>> feature/greeting (incoming)

</body>

</html>

<<<<<<< HEAD— Your version

=======— Divider

>>>>>>> branch— Incoming

02.The Resolution Process Step by Step

Step 1: Run git status to see every conflicted file. Step 2: Open each file in your editor and find the conflict markers. Step 3: Edit to your desired final result — keep one version, the other, or combine both. Step 4: Remove every <<<<<, =====, and >>>>> marker line. Step 5: git add the resolved file. Step 6: git commit to complete the merge.

Git's Three Areas

📁

Working Dir

Your files

→ git add

📋

Staging Area

Prepared

→ git commit

🗄️

Repository

.git/ history

Commands

commands — click to reveal output

git merge feature/login

Attempt merge — conflicts pause it

▼ show output

git status

See all conflicted files

▼ show output

# Edit conflicted files in your editor

Find markers, choose/combine content, remove ALL markers

git add index.html style.css

Mark files as resolved after editing

git commit

Complete the merge — Git pre-fills the message

▼ show output

git merge --abort

Changed your mind? Abort and go back to before the merge

KNOWLEDGE CHECK

After manually editing a conflicted file and removing all markers, what is the next step?

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