Git Overwrite master with branch

Question

I want to overrite master with a particular branch after making changes to it, what I done to do it is:

Step 1: Checkout brranch from Git, using command :

git checkout branch_name

Step 2: I done some changes in code, now I want to make this branch as master, for that I first run the command:

git status

Above command list me all the modified files.

Now my question, what all I need to do overrite master with this particular branch "my_branch"?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29870328/overwrite-everything-in-master-with-another-branch-in-git/ ? — Tobia Tesan, May 07 '15 at 15:17
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29870328/overwrite-everything-in-master-with-another-branch-in-git/ solved half a problem, but when I performing git pull from another system, I am still getting the previous version. — Arpit Aggarwal, May 07 '15 at 15:30
@Arpit, well, if you don't push it to the remote system that's the way it will stay. Be aware that this requires a force push, which your teammates may or may not appreciate. — Tobia Tesan, May 07 '15 at 15:39
Possible duplicate of [overwrite everything in master with another branch in git](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29870328/overwrite-everything-in-master-with-another-branch-in-git) — Tomas Kubes, Jun 03 '17 at 07:58

score 109 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 05 '20 at 19:26

109

git branch -f master dev_branch will rewrite local master branch.

git push remote +dev_branch:master will rewrite remote branch.

NOTE: If the above doesn't work, the name remote could be origin for you (i.e. git push origin +dev_branch:master)

edited Jul 05 '20 at 19:26

Robbie Capps

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answered May 07 '15 at 15:52

aragaer

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For me `git push origin +dev_branch:master` worked. Thx! – Yes Barry Nov 05 '17 at 20:44
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Getting: `fatal: 'remote' does not appear to be a git repository` – Greg Wozniak Jan 05 '19 at 11:48
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`remote` here means your remote. Most likely `origin`. – aragaer Jan 05 '19 at 19:37
git branch -f master dev_branch - This command gave me no error but did not merge the branch to master, when I saw the diff it says no change – Vishal Feb 25 '19 at 07:36
It doesn't merge and there would be no difference. The only thing this command does is "delete" your master branch and "create" it again pointing to a different commit. – aragaer Feb 25 '19 at 07:43
@aragaer - Will the history from the master branch will be deleted? – Vishal Feb 25 '19 at 10:08
Nothing will be deleted immediately - but master branch will be pointing to a completely different commit. So... basically yes. – aragaer Feb 25 '19 at 18:55
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If you get `fatal: Cannot force update the current branch.` make sure to move out of `master` branch – Nacho Mezzadra Oct 11 '19 at 13:05
This worked even when `master` and `dev_branch` had different histories. – Qumber Nov 20 '20 at 13:16
Your branch and 'origin/master' have diverged, I am getting this error. – Pawan Dec 16 '22 at 07:52
That is not an error, that's just a message. Commands above will work in any case. – aragaer Dec 17 '22 at 17:14

ice_chrysler · Answer 2 · 2019-10-31T10:19:03.693

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To completely replace the master branch with the contents of any other feature_branch you can also use:

git checkout feature_branch
git merge -s ours --no-commit master
git commit      # Add a message regarding the replacement that you just did
git checkout master
git merge feature_branch

See: http://git.tutorialhorizon.com/2014/10/05/replace-the-master-branch-with-another-branch-in-git/

edited Oct 31 '19 at 10:19

answered Jan 05 '17 at 16:45

ice_chrysler

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This isn't working for me. I just get the 'Already up to date' message, without anything really changing in the repo. – Joel Jan 18 '17 at 18:56
nm - it works. Just had to do a push at the end to update the remote repo. Thanks! – Joel Jan 18 '17 at 19:05
For me, after I merge my feature branch with -s ours, I get all the unwanted commits from master onto my feature branch. Am I doing something wrong? – NiharGht Aug 12 '20 at 16:14
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the mess I created with git, finally got resolved by this. Thanks. – Urvah Shabbir Oct 14 '20 at 14:47
Thanks a lot! Fixed it for me. :) – Ishidres Nov 27 '20 at 21:24

Git Overwrite master with branch

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