Merge Conflict

You might say

After pulling, Git stopped with a conflict. Which file do I open, and which section do I change?

When the same content was changed differently on two branches, Git cannot choose and a person must decide what to keepWhen Git cannot automatically reconcile changes while merging main and feature/new-nav—for example, both changed the same heading in index.html—it pauses and writes both versions with conflict markers. Review the surrounding page and understand each branch's intent, then choose or reconcile the heading while retaining the other branch's needed navigation. Remove the markers, finish the merge, and reopen the page to verify the result. Markers do not say which side is correct.

Know first

Merge

Merge Conflict

Heading conflict · index.html

<<<<<<< HEAD (main) <h1>Xiaoli's homepage</h1> ====== <h1>Xiaoli's photography homepage</h1> >>>>>>> feature/new-nav

Outside the markersFeature navigation · main contact content

Resolved index.html

<nav>Work　About</nav> <h1>Xiaoli's photography homepage</h1> <p>Contact Xiaoli</p>

my-first-page.example

Xiaoli's photography homepage

Contact Xiaoli

After removing the markers, the page shows the final heading, feature navigation, and main's existing contact content.

Quick checkChoose the best answer

The homepage title conflicts, and the feature branch also adds navigation. How do you keep the right title and preserve the navigation?

Take the feature version for the whole section without checking main's other contentReview the surrounding file, reconcile the title, keep needed navigation, remove markers, then commitTake main's version for the whole section and discard the feature branch navigation

You can say this to an AI Agent

Merging feature/new-nav conflicts in the index.html heading. Explain what main and feature changed; keep an appropriate heading and the other branch's new navigation, along with main's existing contact content. Make only the needed edits, remove all markers, then stage and finish the merge. Reopen the page and check both heading and navigation.

When to use it

Find the conflicted files and open them
$ git statusboth modified: index.htmlOpen this file first, then search the conflict markers
Keep the correct result after understanding both sides
<h1>Xiaoli's photography homepage</h1>
<p>City collection</p>
Each side changed a part; merge into one version when both are needed
Stage and commit only after markers are gone
$ git add index.html$ git commit[main 3f9c2ab] Merge branch feature/new-navCommit only after the markers are gone
Rerun the project to confirm both sides still work
Conflict resolved→Open the page→Heading correct ✓
Rerun to confirm both sides' changes are still there

When NOT to use it

Commit with any conflict marker left in the file
<<<<<<< HEAD
<h1>Xiaoli's homepage</h1>
Markers left in the file break page parsing
Delete a whole section without reading the other side
The heading bug the other side just fixed gets deleted tooDeleting a whole section without reading the other side may drop needed fixes
Treat git merge --abort as resolution: it only returns to the pre-merge state, leaving changes unmerged
git merge --abort→All changes remain unmerged
Mix unrelated edits into the conflict resolution
Changed styles and copy while resolving the heading conflictThis commit mixes unrelated changes, hard to revert and review

Anatomy

<<<<<<< HEAD (main) <h1>Xiaoli's homepage</h1> ======= <h1>Xiaoli’s photography homepage</h1> >>>>>>> feature/new-nav

Below HEAD is this line on the branch you are currently on.

This part came from the current branch; its source marker does not mean the whole section should be kept. Check the page context.

The divider between the two versions; delete it with the markers.

This part came from the branch being merged; check what it does because the source marker does not say whether it is right.

Marks which branch this content came from, for traceability.

Variants

Use needed content from one side

<h1>Xiaoli’s photography homepage</h1>

After confirming one side's change is no longer needed, remove that content

Combine both

<h1>Xiaoli’s photography homepage</h1><p>City collection</p>

Combine useful changes from both sides into the result the page needs

merge --abort

git merge --abort

When the conflict is too tangled, return to the pre-merge state

Typical use cases

Merge pauses

zsh — my-first-page

$ git merge feature/new-navAuto-merging index.htmlCONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in index.htmlAutomatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.

Title markers and changes from both branches

index.html · title conflict1 section to resolve

<nav>Work　About</nav>　← added by feature/new-nav

<<<<<<< HEAD (main)

<h1>Xiaoli’s homepage</h1>

=======

<h1>Xiaoli’s photography homepage</h1>

>>>>>>> feature/new-nav

<p>Contact Xiaoli</p>　← existing main content

The markers surround the two headings; the navigation outside them still needs to be retained.

Review status and branch context

zsh — my-first-page

$ git statusYou have unmerged paths.both modified: index.html$ git diff -- index.htmlmain: original heading and contact contentfeature/new-nav: photography heading and new navigation

Final file and rendered heading

Resolved index.html · merge commit complete

<nav>Work　About</nav> <h1>Xiaoli’s photography homepage</h1> <p>Contact Xiaoli</p> [main 3f9c2ab] Merge branch feature/new-nav

my-first-page.example

Xiaoli’s photography homepage

Contact Xiaoli

Markers are gone. The page shows the final heading, the feature branch navigation, and main’s existing contact content.

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