Merge Conflicts

If both branches changed the same lines of the same file, Git cannot guess which version to keep. It pauses the merge and asks you to decide.

The conflicted file gets special markers showing both versions:

<<<<<<< HEAD
the version on main
=======
the version on feature
>>>>>>> feature

Your job is to edit the file by hand: pick one version, combine them, or write something new. Then remove all the conflict markers (the <<<, ===, >>> lines).

Once the file looks correct, stage it and finalize the merge with another commit:

git add notes.txt
git commit -m "Resolve merge conflict in notes"

If you change your mind partway through, you can abort the whole thing and go back to the pre-merge state:

git merge --abort