Pulling vs. Fetching in Git

What is the difference between git pull and git fetch?

git fetch

• Purpose: Updates the remote-tracking branches in your local repository.
• Functionality: Retrieves the latest changes from the remote repository but does not merge them into your local branches. This means your local working directory remains unchanged.
• Usage:

  git fetch

• Example: After running git fetch, you can inspect the changes with commands like git log origin/main or git diff origin/main.

git pull

• Purpose: Combines the operations of git fetch and git merge or git rebase.
• Functionality:

1. Fetches the latest changes from the remote repository (like git fetch).
2. Merges or rebases these changes into the current branch.

• Usage:

  git pull

• Example: After running git pull, your current branch will be updated with the changes from the remote branch. This command effectively keeps your local branch in sync with the remote branch.

Detailed Differences

git fetch

• What It Does:
• Downloads objects and refs from another repository.
• Updates your remote-tracking branches (e.g., origin/main) with the latest commits from the remote repository.
• Does not alter your working directory or current branch.
• Use Case:
• Use git fetch when you want to see what others have been working on without affecting your local work. It is useful for reviewing changes before integrating them into your own branches.

git pull

• What It Does:
• Fetches changes from the remote repository (like git fetch).
• Automatically merges (or rebases) the fetched changes into the current branch.
• Updates your working directory and the current branch with the changes from the remote branch.
• Use Case:
• Use git pull when you want to integrate the latest changes from the remote repository into your current branch immediately. It is useful for staying up-to-date with the main branch of a project.

Summary

• git fetch: Updates remote-tracking branches. Local working directory and current branch remain unchanged.
• git pull: Fetches changes and integrates them into the current branch, updating the working directory and branch.

By understanding the differences between git fetch and git pull, you can better manage how and when you integrate changes from a remote repository into your local work.