How to Git Pull from a Specific Branch?

When working with Git, you often need to update your local repository with changes made in a remote repository. The git pull command is used for this purpose. It fetches changes from a remote repository and merges them into your current branch. Sometimes, you may want to pull changes from a specific branch. This article will guide you through the process of pulling from a specific branch in Git.

The git pull command performs two actions

• Fetch: Retrieves changes from the remote repository.
• Merge: Integrates the fetched changes into the current branch.

By default, git pull fetches and merges changes from the remote branch that your current branch is tracking. However, you can specify a different branch to pull from.

Step 1: Check Current Branch

First, let’s ensure that you are currently on the branch from which you want to pull changes. You can do this by running the following command in your terminal:

git branch

This command will display a list of branches in your repository, with an asterisk (*) indicating the currently active branch.

Step 2: Switch to the Target Branch

If you’re not already on the target branch from which you want to pull changes, you can switch to it using the git checkout command. Replace <branch_name> with the name of the target branch:

git checkout <branch_name>

Step 3: Pull Changes from the Specific Branch

Once you are on the target branch, you can use the git pull command followed by the remote name (if you have multiple remotes) and the branch name. By default, Git uses the origin remote and the current branch. However, specifying the remote and branch explicitly is a good practice for clarity, especially in collaborative environments:

git pull <remote_name> <branch_name>

For example, if you want to pull changes from a branch named feature-branch from the origin remote, the command would be:

git pull origin feature-branch

Step 4: Resolve any Merge Conflicts (if any)

If there are any merge conflicts while pulling changes, Git will notify you. You will need to resolve these conflicts manually by editing the affected files, marking the conflicts as resolved, and then committing the changes.

Step 5: Verify Changes

After pulling changes from the specific branch, it’s a good practice to verify that the changes have been successfully applied to your local branch. You can do this by reviewing the modified files and running any necessary tests.

An alternative to merging is rebasing. The git pull --rebase command fetches changes from a remote branch and applies your local commits on top of the fetched commits, resulting in a cleaner, linear project history.

Step 1: Open Terminal

Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to your local repository.

Step 2: Pull with Rebase

Use the git pull --rebase command followed by the remote and the branch name.

git pull --rebase origin <branch-name>

In this tutorial, we have learned how to pull changes from a specific branch in Git. By following these simple steps, you can keep your local repository up-to-date with changes made to a particular branch in a remote repository. This is particularly useful in collaborative projects where multiple developers are working on different features or bug fixes concurrently.