"Updates were rejected because the tag already exists" when attempting to push in SourceTree

Question

When attempting to Push via Source Tree, I get the following error:

git -c diff.mnemonicprefix=false -c core.quotepath=false -c credential.helper=sourcetree push -v --tags origin refs/heads/master:refs/heads/master 
Pushing to https://user@github.com/repo.git
To https://user@github.com/repo.git
 = [up to date]      master -> master
...
 ! [rejected]        example_tag -> example_tag (already exists)
updating local tracking ref 'refs/remotes/origin/master'
error: failed to push some refs to 'https://user@github.com/repo.git'
hint: Updates were rejected because the tag already exists in the remote.
Completed with errors, see above

I didn't make any changes to this tag as far as I know. How can I fix this?

score 358 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 18 '22 at 11:35

358

You should also be able to solve this in git bash (click on "Terminal" button in the Source Tree UI). Type:

git pull --tags

If you have conflicting tags, you can include the -f option in the command to override the local conflicting tags with their remote versions.

git pull --tags -f

edited Jan 18 '22 at 11:35

Dávid Pásztor

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answered Sep 16 '16 at 15:14

bytedev

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I feel this is the best answer for it's the path of least resistance. – Chad Apr 26 '18 at 22:44
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With a conflict you can do `git pull --tags -f` to overwrite the one you have locally if that's what you want – DenLilleMand Apr 08 '19 at 13:15
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In SourceTree, click Fetch, and enable "fetch all tags". That would do it. – Darkgaze Sep 02 '19 at 10:33
@DenLilleMand's comment should be the accepted answer. – Fred Zimmerman Mar 08 '21 at 20:06

Senseful · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-25T20:27:46.033

140

If you have not made any local changes to the tag that you want to keep, then you can remove tag that was rejected because it already exists (example_tag in this case):

Right-click the tag and choose to delete it (be sure to uncheck the Remove tag from all remotes checkbox).
Choose the Fetch option (Fetch and store all tags locally does not have to be enabled).
You should now have that tag that was just deleted back, and attempting to Push will no longer show that error message.

The reason this is common in SourceTree is because the Push all tags option is set to on by default. (Another way to hide this error is to uncheck that option.)

edited Aug 25 '15 at 20:27

answered Aug 10 '15 at 21:41

Senseful

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"Fetch and store all tags locally does not have to be enabled" is what did it for me, checking that just caused the problem to repeat itself. – Tom Oct 06 '16 at 23:33
Assuming the upstream (origin) repo is the source of truth, this solution is the least destructive, and fixes the problem instantly. – Steve Henty Apr 05 '18 at 21:38
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Unfortunately when you have 15 rejected tags the 1,2, and 3 steps can be very tedious. Yes, disabling the "Push all tags" option is a probably the right way to go. – aaa Dec 17 '19 at 09:51
"Right-click" where? What type o IDE are you assuming? – ricoms Mar 26 '21 at 18:50
`The reason this is common in SourceTree is because the Push all tags option is set to on by default. (Another way to hide this error is to uncheck that option.)` is exactly what I need – samthui7 Feb 17 '22 at 08:19

score 52 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 28 '21 at 14:21

52

git pull --tags works really well but sometimes you can get an error even with this command. Example error message:

 ! [rejected]        example_tag      -> example_tag  (would clobber existing tag)

This can be solved with the command: git pull --tags -f

-f stands for force.

Source:

https://github.com/concourse/git-resource/issues/233

edited Jun 28 '21 at 14:21

Volker E.

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answered Sep 10 '19 at 14:10

Ogglas

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score 37 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 11 '18 at 20:33

37

Uncheck push all tags at the bottom of the UI when you confirm your git push

edited Sep 11 '18 at 20:33

Andreas Kraft

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answered Sep 11 '18 at 16:05

JDev-Guns

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Did you mean `push all tags`? – Wodin Sep 11 '18 at 16:29
Great! Did not observe it. Thanks – Meg-90 Sep 11 '18 at 21:40
@Wodin so if you CHECK the `push all tags` in the UI it will try to overwrite the previous tags. but you have to UNCHECK it to prevent the overwrite – JDev-Guns Sep 18 '18 at 18:12
@JDev-Guns I was just querying the wording. You originally said [`push all TABs`](https://stackoverflow.com/revisions/52280040/1). I am not familiar with SourceTree, but I suspected you meant `TAGs` instead of `TABs`. – Wodin Sep 20 '18 at 16:25
@Wodin oh gotcha! i think i said `TAGs` but if i didnt, i meant to say `TABs` – JDev-Guns Oct 03 '18 at 19:50
This really helped. Thanks. – iPhoneDeveloper Jul 15 '19 at 05:51
But if you added a new tag locally doesn't this mean it isn't pushed to the remote? – bytedev Jan 08 '20 at 10:01
Imo, this is the best response. – Gil Grencho Feb 03 '22 at 17:59

score 28 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 15 '19 at 04:05

28

Make sure you uncheck the "Push all tags" button while push.

answered Aug 15 '19 at 04:05

Sudheer Kumar Palchuri

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As mentioned above, if you added a new tag locally doesn't this mean it isn't pushed to the remote? – bytedev Mar 27 '20 at 02:49

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 28 '20 at 09:49

3

In SourceTree, this seems to work:

Click the Fetch icon
Check "Fetch all tags"
Click Ok

answered Aug 28 '20 at 09:49

John Berg

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"Updates were rejected because the tag already exists" when attempting to push in SourceTree

6 Answers6

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