Git error on git pull (unable to update local ref)

The Issue:
(unable to update local ref)
OR
error: Couldn't set ORIG_HEAD
fatal: Cannot update the ref 'ORIG_HEAD'
Possible Causes:
- Your clone/fork of the git repository is not updated with the remote branch updates.
- The remote repository you are pulling from, is not tied to the local repository on your computer.
Solution:
-
git gc --prune=now
or
git remote prune origin
This would remove objects that are no longer referenced and duplicates.
-
If this doesn't fix your problem, then you might have to hard reset to the last commit.
git reflog git reset --hard <id> git pull origin <branch>
git reflog: This would provide list of previous commits and their ids
Summary
That's all! You were expecting a longer read? Learn more about refs, git prune
and git gc
.