Force `git pull` to overwrite local files

David Y.

The Problem

When I run git pull, the command fails with an error message indicating that local files will be overwritten. How do I force git pull to execute anyway?

The Solution

The simplest and safest way to do this is by using git stash. This command will save and store changes made to a repository’s working directory since the most recent commit and return it to the state of that commit. From there, you can call git pull to retrieve remote changes.

To reapply the uncommitted work on top of the new commits, run git stash pop.