Adding changes from the master branch to a different branch is a typical Git task. This process makes sure that the branch you are working on is up-to-date with all of the main codebase’s modifications and updates. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, each appropriate for a particular scenario and workflow.

In order to make the process understandable, we will cover every angle that could be taken, go over each step in detail, and include illustrations. Below are the some approaches to get changes from master into branch in git.

Method 1: Merge

Merging is the simplest and most common way to get changes from the master branch into your current branch. It combines the histories of the two branches.

Step 1: Switch to your branch

git checkout your-branch

Step 2: Fetch the latest changes

git fetch origin

Step 3: Merge master into your branch

git merge origin/master

Step 4: Resolve any merge conflicts if they arise.

Step 5: Commit the merge if needed (usually Git handles this automatically).

Example

How To Get Changes From Master Into a Branch in Git

Method 2: Rebase

Rebasing is an alternative to merging that moves your branch’s commits on top of the latest commits in master, providing a cleaner project history.

Step 1: Switch to your branch

git checkout your-branch

Step 2: Fetch the latest changes

git fetch origin

Step 3: Rebase your branch onto master

git rebase origin/master

Step 4: Resolve any conflicts during the rebase process.

Step 5: Continue the rebase after resolving conflicts

git rebase --continue

Step 6: Force push your branch to update the remote history:

git push origin your-branch --force

Example

How To Get Changes From Master Into a Branch in Git

Choosing Between Merge and Rebase

When to Use Merge

• Simple Integration: If you want to integrate changes without rewriting the commit history.
• Preserving History: When you want to preserve the chronological order of commits from both branches.
• Team Collaboration: When multiple team members are working on the same branch, and you want to avoid potential complications with rebasing.

When to Use Rebase

• Clean History: If you prefer a linear project history without merge commits.
• Feature Development: When developing a feature independently and want to keep your branch up-to-date with the master branch.
• Review Simplicity: For making code reviews simpler by having a linear commit history.