Git New Added 28 August 2026

git: refusing to merge unrelated histories

The two branches have no common ancestor. This normally means a local repository was initialised separately from the remote, or the remote was recreated.

Quick fix

Read the commands before running them. Anything that restarts a service, deletes data or changes permissions should be tried on a non-production system first.

Quick fix

# Understand first. This is often a sign you cloned the wrong thing
git log --oneline -5 HEAD
git log --oneline -5 origin/main

# If merging really is correct
git pull origin main --allow-unrelated-histories

# Usually cleaner: clone the remote and copy your work in
git clone <remote> fresh && cp -r old/src fresh/src

How to diagnose Git errors

Git errors are frightening mostly because the messages describe internal state rather than what to do. The reassuring fact is that almost nothing is lost: git reflog records every position HEAD has held, so a bad rebase, a hard reset or a deleted branch is nearly always recoverable. Before running any destructive command, note the current commit hash.

If the quick fix above does not resolve it, work through these steps. They apply to this whole class of error, not just to this one message, which is usually what saves the time.

Run git status and read it fully. It tells you the current state and usually names the exact command to move forward or abort.
Use git reflog to find any commit you think you have lost, then git reset --hard <hash> or git branch recovery <hash> to get it back.
For a rejected push, run git fetch then git log --oneline HEAD..@{u} to see exactly what is on the remote that you do not have. Prefer --force-with-lease over --force, which refuses to overwrite work you have not seen.
Abort rather than improvise when a merge or rebase goes wrong: git merge --abort, git rebase --abort, git cherry-pick --abort.
For repository corruption, run git fsck --full. If objects are missing, re-cloning and cherry-picking your local work is usually faster and safer than repairing in place.

Tools worth reaching for

git status
git reflog
git fsck --full
git log --graph --oneline --all
git diff --check

Authoritative references

Primary documentation for this error, worth reading before applying any fix in production.

git-scm.com

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Something missing or wrong?

This entry is maintained by hand. If the fix is out of date, incomplete, or you have a better one, email a correction and it will be reviewed.