Differences between git fetch and git pull

What is git fetch?

The git fetch command lets you download updates from a remote repository to your local repository without changing any of your local files. It allows you to check what updates are available on the remote branch before deciding to apply them.

In simple words, git fetch will notify us is there any changes are there in the remote repository. It’s more like just checking to see if there are any changes are available.

What is git pull ?

The git pull command is used to fetch and immediately merge changes from the remote repository into your current branch. It’s essentially a combination of git fetch followed by git merge.

git pull = git fetch + git merge

Explaining the complete scenario by using the below diagram.

In simple terminology, git fetch will notify what all changes are there in the remote repository, but it will not merge the changes to local(current) repository.

Incase if you want to up-to-date the local(current) repository, along with git fetch, try to execute the git merge command, then only all the changes will merge, and it will be available in local(current) repository.

git pull, will retrieve all the changes from remote repository and merge the changes to local(current) repository.

git pull = git fetch + git merge

Key Differences Between git fetch and git pull

Best Practices

• Avoid blind git pull commands: Always review changes first if you’re unsure about the impact of a merge.

• Use git fetch in collaborative workflows: When working in a team, fetching first allows you to inspect and coordinate before merging.

• Resolve conflicts carefully: If a git pull results in a merge conflict, you’ll need to resolve it manually.