Branches & Merging

Learn how to work with branches and merge changes in GitGUI.

The Sidebar

The left sidebar shows your repository's branch structure:

• Local — Branches on your machine
• Remote — Branches on remote servers (origin, etc.)
• Stashes — Saved work-in-progress

Viewing Branches

Branch Tree

Branches are displayed in a tree structure. Folders group related branches:

Local
├── main
├── develop
└── feature/
    ├── login
    └── dashboard

Current Branch

The current branch (HEAD) is highlighted with a special badge and accent color.

Branch Counts

Each section shows the total number of branches.

Switching Branches

Double-Click to Checkout

Double-click any local branch to switch to it (checkout).

Single-Click to Highlight

Single-click a branch to scroll the commit graph to that branch's latest commit without switching.

Creating Branches

From Context Menu

1. Right-click any branch
2. Select Branch from...
3. Enter the new branch name
4. GitGUI creates and switches to the new branch

Branch Naming Tips

• Use prefixes: feature/, fix/, hotfix/
• Keep names descriptive but concise
• Avoid spaces (use hyphens or underscores)

Merging Branches

Drag & Drop Merge

The fastest way to merge:

1. Drag the source branch (the one with changes)
2. Drop it onto the target branch (where you want the changes)
3. GitGUI will:
   • Switch to the target branch if needed
   • Perform the merge
   • Show success or conflict notification

Context Menu Merge

1. Right-click the branch you want to merge FROM
2. Select Merge into...
3. Choose the target branch
4. Confirm the merge

Merge Results

Result	What Happens
Success	Changes merged, commit graph updates
Fast-forward	Branch pointer moves, no merge commit
Conflicts	Files with conflicts shown in staging panel

Handling Merge Conflicts

When a merge has conflicts:

1. GitGUI shows a warning notification
2. Conflicted files appear in the staging panel
3. Open each file in your editor to resolve conflicts
4. Stage the resolved files
5. Commit to complete the merge

Conflict Markers

Look for these markers in conflicted files:

<<<<<<< HEAD
Your changes
=======
Their changes
>>>>>>> branch-name

Deleting Branches

Delete Local Branch

1. Right-click the branch
2. Select Delete branch
3. Confirm deletion
4. Optionally delete from remote too

Cannot Delete Current Branch

You cannot delete the branch you're currently on. Switch to another branch first.

Delete Remote Branch

1. Right-click a remote branch
2. Select Delete remote branch
3. Confirm deletion
4. Optionally delete the local tracking branch

Pushing and Pulling

Push to Remote

Press Ctrl+P or use the header button to push your current branch to the remote.

Pull from Remote

Press Ctrl+Shift+P to pull changes from the remote into your current branch.

Behind/Ahead Indicators

The status bar shows if your branch is behind or ahead of the remote.

Working with Remotes

Remote Branches

Remote branches appear under the Remote section in the sidebar, organized by remote name (usually origin).

Tracking

When you checkout a remote branch, GitGUI creates a local tracking branch automatically.

Best Practices

Keep main/master Clean

• Don't commit directly to main
• Use feature branches for new work
• Merge via pull requests when possible

Merge Often

• Regularly merge main into your feature branch
• Smaller, frequent merges are easier than big ones

Delete Merged Branches

• Clean up branches after merging
• Keeps the sidebar tidy

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+P	Push to remote
Ctrl+Shift+P	Pull from remote

Next Steps

• Viewing Diffs — Understand file changes
• Stashing Changes — Save work temporarily