GIT pulling or cloning repository only gets Master branch

Question

I host on BitBucket when I git clone a repository or use git pull origin master and git pull origin myBranch it does pull second time, but when I list branches with git branch -v I only see master. Doing git status shows nothing too.

How do I pull all of the branches off the web repo to my local repo?

Could it be that it's because I changed computers and name on the git settings changed so it only lets me get master since it's the default branch and the other one can be only accessed by whoever created it?

Michael Durrant · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-12T12:20:32.597

65

The branches do exist but you can't see them

Try using this:

git branch -a

You'll now see the list of remote branches in origin e.g.

Output:

remotes/origin/tk_removes_call_centers
remotes/origin/tk_warm_transfer_fix
remotes/origin/update_README

and you can then

git checkout [any_individual_branch_name]

You can also get the same list with git branch -v --all which includes the most recent commit info, i.e.

git branch -v --all

output:

remotes/origin/tk_removes_call_centers     1478b14 re-adding call feedback workers
remotes/origin/tk_warm_transfer_fix        94720c5 handling blank auto policy
remotes/origin/update_README               a769b82 Update README

git branch -v (without --all) only shows branches you've worked on. When you use --all you see all the tracking branches in origin/

answered Nov 03 '12 at 00:54

Michael Durrant

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You can also use the short form: ``git branch -a`` – Don Branson Nov 03 '12 at 12:02
Branch mybranch set up to track remote branch mybranch from origin. Switched to a new branch 'mybranch' what that message means – JohnA Nov 03 '12 at 21:54
1

@DonBranson thanks I added that plus what the difference is – Michael Durrant Feb 23 '16 at 14:22
But why is this happening? – Despertaweb Jan 16 '20 at 12:15
By design. "only shows branches you've worked on (created locally)". to show only relevant information, for example 3 branches you've used and not 300 branches you have never used. – Michael Durrant Jan 16 '20 at 12:58

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 18 '17 at 14:27

Do this list of commands:

git branch -a :

you will see the list of remote branches

git remote show origin

It will display all branches known by your local repository. If the branch you want to use is not in the list, run the command

git remote update

which updates the entire list of remote branches tracked by your local repository and then run

git fetch

which updates all tracked branches.

Then you can create your branch with the following checkout command:

git checkout -b your_branch_local_name origin/your_branch_remote_name

GIT pulling or cloning repository only gets Master branch

2 Answers2

The branches do exist but you can't see them