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

Git Problem Overview

I only have branch master and im getting this error every time i try to "git pull":

error: Couldn't set refs/remotes/origin/master
From /var/lib/git/xxx/project
 ! a0f80ea..49177a3  master     -> origin/master  (unable to update local ref)

and when i do "git pull origin master" i get:

error: Couldn't set ORIG_HEAD
fatal: Cannot update the ref 'ORIG_HEAD'.

i have been searching but cant find why

Git Solutions

Solution 1 - Git

My team and I ran into this error, unable to update local ref, when doing a pull in SourceTree.

> Update 2020: Per @Edward Yang's answer below, @bryan's comment on this answer, and this question/answer you may need to run both git gc --prune=now and git remote prune origin. Running only the former has always worked for me but based on ppl's responses I think both are necessary to address different causes of the error.

We used:

git gc --prune=now

This removes any duplicate reference objects which should fix the issue.

Here are a few links where you can learn more about git references and pruning :

git tip of the week

git-prune documentation

git references

Solution 2 - Git

I solved as below:

git remote prune origin

Solution 3 - Git

with gitbach line commande, use git update-ref to update reference of your local branch:

$ git update-ref -d refs/remotes/origin/[locked branch name]

then pull using $ git pull

[locked branch name] is the name of the branch that the error is happening because of mismatch of commit Ids.

Solution 4 - Git

Try to use this command in your git repository root folder:

rm .git/logs/refs/remotes/origin/master

Solution 5 - Git

rm .git/refs/remotes/origin/master

It works to me!

Solution 6 - Git

Problem

Windows users can often have this problem

git pull

gives the error: error: cannot lock ref unable to update local ref

Cause

Cause a) There are multiple branches, whose names from the beginning up to any slash (or to the end), differ only in upper and lower case.

Branch name clashing (upper/lower case)
#######################################

# Example 1)
#############################
feature/releasecandidate/fix123
feature/releaseCandidate/improveFeature789
------------------------
               ^
  Identical from beginning up to a slash (here the 2nd one)
  except for the marked letter, where the upper/lower case differs




# Example 2)
#############################
releaseBranch
releasebranch
-------------
       ^
  Identical from beginning to the end
  except for the marked letter

Cause b) Also a problem on linux: One branch is a prefix of another, with a slash boundary:

Prefix with slash-boundary
#######################################

# Example 1) - also a problem on linux
#############################
feature/release2021
feature/release2021/fixIssue07
                   ^
              slash boundary

# Example 2)
#############################
feature/release2022
feature/Release2022/fixIssue99
        ^          ^
  differing case   slash boundary
 (problem on 
   windows)

Solution

Remove the cause (see exact Cause above).

# inspect your branches, to see if you have the upper/lower case problem git ls-remote --heads YOUR-GIT-URL

For example: create a branch-naming policy, e.g. all in lower-case letters; or letters before the last slash in lower-case. Or some smart hook, that detect a violation. (but note: In cause a) the problem is only on windows, not on linux).

Background

The problem is that windows stores these branches (from example 1 and 2) in the .git folder

# inspect the files/folders under .git/refs/remotes/origin/

and in Cause a) windows cannot distinguish the differences in upper/lower case, so git on window goes crazy.

In Cause b) you cannot have a folder (e.g. feature/release2021/) with the same name as a file (feature/release2021).

Workaround

A short-term workaround that often works (until you've removed the cause) is:

git pack-refs --all

# delete the contents of .git/refs/remotes/origin/*  
rm -rf .git/refs/remotes/origin/*

git pull; git pull; git pull   # all good? yes!

Solution 7 - Git

I discoverd the same Error message trying to pull from a Bitbuck Repo into my lokal copy. There is also only one Branche Master and the command git pull origin master lead to this Error Message

From https://bitbucket.org/xxx
 * branch            master     -> FETCH_HEAD
error: Couldn't set ORIG_HEAD
fatal: Cannot update the ref 'ORIG_HEAD'.

Solution as follows

git reflog find the number of the last commit
git reset --hard <numnber> reset to the last commit
git pull origin master pull again without error

Solution 8 - Git

DIRECT ANSWER

git remote prune origin
rm .git/refs/remotes/origin/master
git fetch
git pull origin master

Run the above command step by step

Solution 9 - Git

This was enough for Windows:

> git pack-refs --all

Solution 10 - Git

Ensure the user that is executing the git pull is the same user that created the repository. The file permissions are incorrect.

Solution 11 - Git

What happened over here? The local references to your remote branches were changed and hence when you run git pull, git doesn't find any corresponding remote branches and hence it fails.

git remote prune origin

actually cleans this local references and then run git pull again.

Suggestion - Please run with --dry-run option for safety

Solution 12 - Git

What worked for me was:

git config --global fetch.prune true

Now it keeps on running prune automatically.

Solution 13 - Git

Clone the repository again, and copy the .git folder in your broken project.

Solution 14 - Git

I've remove the local ref of the branch with:

git branch -d -r REPO/.git/refs/remotes/origin/BRANCHNAME

then I can do my fetch.

Or more radically

rm -rf REPO/.git/refs/remotes/origin

This works everytime too.

Solution 15 - Git

This is probably a very niche situation, but: I run Windows in a Parallels VM on my MacBook Pro, with my local repos stored on the VM's disk, which is shared with macOS.

If I have a file open in a Mac app from a repo that's located on the Windows VM, I sometimes get the "unable to update local ref" error. The solution when this happens is to simply close the file or quit the Mac app.

Solution 16 - Git

This happened to me on OSX where I use a case insensitive file system. Somehow another developer pushed a branch with the same name but different case: My-Branch vs my-branch.

I already had My-Branch checked out and got the error "unable to update local ref" when I did a pull probably because the file system thinks My-Branch == my-branch.

Since we use Github I could solve the problem by deleting one of the branches via Github's GUI.

Solution 17 - Git

Remove file .git/logs/refs/remotes/origin/[Locked Branch Name]

Solution 18 - Git

This error with (unable to update local ref) can also happen if you have changed passwords recently and there's some fancy stuff integrating your Windows and Linux logins.

Solution 19 - Git

Speaking from a PC user - Reboot.

Honestly, it worked for me. I've solved two strange git issues I thought were corruptions this way.

Solution 20 - Git

I had the same error, I was updating from within Eclipse and I got many errors. So I tried updating from a DOS command window, and got the same issue.

Then I tried the solution " git gc --prune=now " This gave messages that the files were locked in the refs directory.

Eclipse must have had a locked on something in the "refs" directory.
The solution I found was to simply close Eclipse. Then I updated the repository from DOS with a " git PULL " command, and everything worked fine.

Solution 21 - Git

I fixed this by deleting the locked branch file. It may seem crude, and I have no idea why it worked, but it fixed my issue (i.e. the same error you are getting)

Deleted: .git/refs/remotes/origin/[locked branch name]

Then I simply ran

git fetch

and the git file restored itself, fully repaired

Solution 22 - Git

git pull origin <branch_name_you_are_currently_at> will pull just that branch. It may or may not give you merge conflicts. Resolve them and commit them. It worked for me.

Solution 23 - Git

I had the same issue on my debian server as the disk is full. No temp file could be created as no space left on device. After cleaning some files, it worked out fine.

Solution 24 - Git

This work for me

rm .git/logs/refs/remotes/origin/master

Solution 25 - Git

One command solution [for Linux/bash users]

Changing permission by changing ownership of the file.

sudo chown username -R .git

(replace 'username' with your username)

Use sudo if owner of the file is sudo.

Deleting the file will also solve the problem.

sudo rm .git/logs/refs/remotes/origin/master

Solution 26 - Git

Open Git Bash as admin cd to folder, Git add . Git commit -m "your message" Git push he will now either use built in credentials or ask for username/pw, If built in credentials or username/pw don't work create a PAT and close the window where they ask for credentials a screen will pop up that asks for a PAT

Solution 27 - Git

I had the same error, I was pulling from git desktop app. So I tried updating from a DOS command window, and got the same issue.

Then I tried the solution " git gc --prune=now " .

git gc --prune=now :This has solved the above issue I was facing.

Thanks.

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	user115561	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Git	Greg Venech	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Git	Edward Yang	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Git	T.Moez	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Git	Babak	View Answer on Stackoverflow
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Solution 8 - Git	Abdulhakim Zeinu	View Answer on Stackoverflow
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Solution 11 - Git	therealprashant	View Answer on Stackoverflow
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Solution 13 - Git	Gabriel Santos Carvalho	View Answer on Stackoverflow
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Solution 17 - Git	Nitin Agarwal	View Answer on Stackoverflow
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Solution 22 - Git	Sourabh Jain	View Answer on Stackoverflow
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Solution 25 - Git	Zishan Ahamed Thandar	View Answer on Stackoverflow
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