Git merge error "commit is not possible because you have unmerged files"

Question

I forgot to git pull my code before editing it; when I committed the new code and tried to push, I got the error "push is not possible".

At that point I did a git pull which made some files with conflict highlighted. I removed the conflicts but I don't know what to do from here.

I tried to git commit again but it says the "commit is not possible because you have unmerged files":

error: Committing is not possible because you have unmerged files.

Solution 1

If you have fixed the conflicts you need to add the files to the stage with git add [filename], then commit as normal.

Solution 2

You need to do two things. First add the changes with

git add .
git stash  

git checkout <some branch>

It should solve your issue as it solved to me.

Solution 3

You can use git stash to save the current repository before doing the commit you want to make (after merging the changes from the upstream repo with git stash pop). I had to do this yesterday when I had the same problem.

Solution 4

This error occurs when you resolve the conflicts but the file still needs to be added in the stage area. git add . would solve it. Then, try to commit and merge.

Solution 5

Since git 2.23 (August 2019) you now have a shortcut to do that: git restore --staged [filepath]. With this command, you could ignore a conflicted file without needing to add and remove that.

Example:

> git status

  ...
  Unmerged paths:
    (use "git add <file>..." to mark resolution)
      both modified:   file.ex

> git restore --staged file.ex

> git status

  ...
  Changes not staged for commit:
    (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
    (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
      modified:   file.ex

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Comments

[Henke]

You might want to change your git workflow so that you never arrive in this situation in the first place. I don't have time to elaborate on it right now, but what I have in mind includes either git merge -X theirs or git pull -X theirs. - Probably not both, but I am not sure.

[R11G]

What if those are the files I have not been working on? Should I then still add them? What is the best way to deal with it?

[Brendon Muir]

I had to do this for a file that was deleted in a branch that I was merging into the current branch. Git flagged it as a conflict, so I had to delete the file locally then git add the_file in order to commit the merge.

[polina-c]

how to find list of conflicts?

[jonnystoten]

git status will show you the files that have conflicts

[Rais Iqbal]

It is not required only git add . would suffice

[courtsimas]

Also this is a heavy hitter if you're not wanting to git add all your working files

[Yuri Predborski]

@jonnystoten thanks for your comment! I used git status and found a file that said both deleted. WebStorm UI didn't show the problem, just said it couldn't commit a merge. Resolved!

[Alexander Samoylov]

I think the answer "git add" is correct, but not complete. If I have a merge conflicts during cherry-pick and do "git add" + "git commit" as suggested I get the error: "fatal: cannot do a partial commit during a cherry-pick.". In this case I have to do this: "git add" + "git cherry-pick --continue" + "git push".

[Josh Bone]

Do not run "git add ." unless you are ready to add all local files to your GitHub repo.

[shubham rajput]

If you do not want to add that file in your commit and you are getting the error even after resolving the commit, simply stage and un-stage that file fixed the error for me.

[ElsayedDev]

please don't use stash .. it we remove all u changed

[Zon]

This way you will get rid of the blocking message, but resolved conflict changes will also be rolled back. If you want to keep them - copy src folder, do what's in this answer, and paste src back.