Learn how to fix the “fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories” Git error. Our Server Management Support team is here to answer your queries and concerns.
Fix the “fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories” Git Error
If you are having trouble with the following Git error message, you have come to the right place.
fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories
This error occurs when merging two Git repositories or branches that don’t share a common commit history. Git sees them as entirely separate and is unwilling to combine their histories without extra guidance. Since there’s no shared starting point between them, Git cannot figure out how to merge them.
Like other fatal errors in development environments, like the SQL Server fatal error 615, this Git issue halts your progress until it’s resolved correctly.
An Overview:
- Key Impacts of the Error
- Common Causes and How to Fix Them
- 1. Incompatibility Between Local and Remote Repositories
- 2. Merging Two Independent Repositories
- 3. Corrupted `.git` Directory
- 4. Pulling into a Newly Initialized Repository
- 5. Merging Diverged Branches
- 6. Accidental Repository Initialization
- Prevention Tips
Key Impacts of the Error
Here’s how this error can affect our development workflow:
- Prevents successful merges, halting progress.
- If not handled carefully, changes might be lost during reconciliation.
- Requires extra commands or manual conflict resolution.
- It can be puzzling for new contributors.
- Troubleshooting can divert focus from core development tasks.
- Poorly managed merges may lead to broken or inconsistent project states.
Errors like these can be critical in scenarios involving production environments or live servers. That’s why robust server management services are essential—they help prevent such errors from impacting system performance and uptime.
Common Causes and How to Fix Them
1. Incompatibility Between Local and Remote Repositories
Local and remote have diverged without being synced.
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To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
- First, open a terminal and go to the local repository directory.
- Then, check which branch we are currently on. We can switch if needed.
git checkout main - Then, run this command:
git pull origin main –allow-unrelated-historiesThis command pushes Git to merge changes from the remote repository into the local branch, even if they do not share a common history.
If there are any conflicts, Git will notify us. In this case, we can open the conflicted files, fix the issue, and mark them as resolved.
git add conflicted-file
Then commit the changes.
commit -m "Merged unrelated histories"Finally, push the merged changes with this command:
git push origin main
2. Merging Two Independent Repositories
Attempting to merge repositories with no shared commits.
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- First, add the second repository as a remote if it hasn’t already been done:
git remote add other-repo other-repo-url - Then, fetch changes from the other repository:
git fetch other-repo - Now, run this command to merge with the –allow-unrelated-histories flag:
git merge other-repo/main –allow-unrelated-historiesThis command will merge the main branch of the second repository into the current branch, allowing for unrelated histories.
- Finally, resolve conflicts if they pop up, then commit and push as needed.
3. Corrupted `.git` Directory
The `.git` directory is damaged or missing files.
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- First, remove the corrupted .git directory:
rm -rf .git - Then, reinitialize the repository with this command:
git init - Now, re-add the remote repository:
git remote add origin repository-url - Then, fetch changes from the remote repository:
git fetch origin - Finally, merge changes as needed:
git pull origin main –allow-unrelated-histories
Corruption issues aren’t limited to Git. An error like “Allowed memory size exhausted” in cPanel can occur in web hosting environments if the system isn’t well-monitored or configured.
4. Pulling into a Newly Initialized Repository
A new local repo is trying to pull from a remote with existing history.
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- First, go to the new local repository directory and pull changes with this command:
git pull origin main –allow-unrelated-histories - Resolve any conflicts if they pop up, commit, and push as needed.
5. Merging Diverged Branches
Branches have no common ancestor.
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- First, create an empty commit to connect histories:
git commit --allow-empty -m "Merge unrelated histories" - Then, merge as seen below:
git merge branch-name --allow-unrelated-histories - Resolve any conflicts if they pop up, commit, and push as needed.
6. Accidental Repository Initialization
The developer initialized a new repo instead of cloning an existing one.
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In this case, clone the existing repository instead of initializing a new one:
git clone repository-urlThen, go to the cloned directory and start working with it. Ensure all history is intact.
Prevention Tips
Here are some tips to avoid this error in the future:
- Always clone when collaborating on a shared project.
- Regularly pull from remotes to prevent divergence.
- Make sure all team members understand the Git workflow.
- Use `–force` only when vital.
- Use Git Flow or trunk-based development to structure work cleanly.
- Create backups of important branches before merging.
[Need assistance with a different issue? Our team is available 24/7.]
Conclusion
The “fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories” error is manageable once we find the root cause.
In brief, our Support Experts demonstrated how to fix the “fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories” Git error.
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