If git pull fails while your Mac’s project appears clean, first identify the exact error: Git may be protecting local or ignored files, hiding submodule changes, or refusing to combine diverged branch histories. In Terminal, inspect the repository’s full status and branch tracking before changing files or choosing merge or rebase behavior.

Start in the repository and capture the actual error

Open Terminal, move into the project folder, and run the pull again only if you need to reproduce the message. Terminal uses zsh by default on current macOS, and the quoted commands below work in zsh and bash. Apple’s Terminal guide

cd "/path/to/your/project"
git status --short --branch
git pull

Replace the quoted path with your project’s actual folder. Read the complete pull error. “Your local changes … would be overwritten” points to a file-level obstruction. “Divergent branches” or “Not possible to fast-forward” means local and upstream commit histories need a reconciliation choice. These problems can look similar in a graphical client, but they call for different steps.

Look for files hidden by a brief status view

A short status display can omit details that matter. Run a fuller read-only inspection:

git status --untracked-files=all --ignored=matching --ignore-submodules=none
git diff --
git diff --cached --

git status normally reports untracked files, but a local setting can hide them; --untracked-files=all lists individual files inside untracked folders. Ignored files are excluded unless requested, so --ignored=matching reveals ignored paths that match ignore rules. --ignore-submodules=none asks status to report submodule changes even if configuration would otherwise hide them. Git documents these status modes and notes that ignored paths receive a distinct status marker. Git status documentation

The two git diff commands show tracked working-tree edits and staged changes, respectively. They do not list ignored or untracked file contents. A “clean” result from a GUI, another folder, or a filtered status view therefore does not establish that every obstruction is visible; use Terminal in the same repository and inspect the exact path named by Git. Ignore rules intentionally keep matching untracked files out of ordinary status output. Git ignore documentation

If the reported path is ignored or untracked, inspect it before moving or deleting it. Do not run git clean, git reset --hard, or overwrite the path as a diagnostic shortcut: these commands can remove local work or files. If it contains something you need, make a separate copy or otherwise preserve it before resolving the collision.

Check submodules and index flags

A repository with submodules can look clean at its top level while a submodule has local edits, untracked files, or a different checked-out commit. The expanded status command above asks Git not to ignore submodule state. You can also enter the named submodule directory and run git status --untracked-files=all there; each submodule has its own working tree and status.

For a less common case, Git’s index can carry flags that affect how it treats paths. assume-unchanged tells Git to assume a file matches the index, and skip-worktree can avoid updating a path during operations such as pull. Inspect unusual entries with:

git ls-files -v

This lists tracked paths with index tags; lowercase tags can indicate assume-unchanged entries, while S indicates skip-worktree. Treat this as an inspection clue, not a cleanup command. Do not blindly clear flags across the repository; if an affected path is named, check its contents and the project’s sparse-checkout setup before changing its index state. Git update-index documentation

If the message is about diverged branches

A clean working tree does not mean your local branch and its upstream have the same history. Check which branch is checked out and what it tracks:

git branch --show-current
git branch -vv
git status --short --branch

The status and branch output can show whether the local branch is ahead, behind, or diverged from its upstream. Git pull first fetches remote changes and then integrates the configured upstream. Its default fast-forward-only behavior stops when the local and remote branches have diverged; this is a history policy, not proof of uncommitted file changes. Git pull documentation

If local commits exist, choose a method that fits the project’s collaboration rules: rebase reapplies local commits on top of upstream, while merge joins the histories and may create a merge commit. Check with the repository’s maintainers or team convention if you are unsure. Avoid setting a global pull preference or force-resetting the branch just to silence the error; neither explains what should happen to those commits.

Use the error to pick the next check

A file collision calls for checking the named path, including ignored files and submodules. A divergence message calls for inspecting branch history and deciding how to integrate commits. If status remains clean but the error names a path, confirm that Terminal is in the expected checkout, inspect that path directly, and check for relevant index flags. The exact message is the most useful diagnostic: preserve local files and commits until you understand which kind of refusal Git is reporting.

Sources