How to Use git fetch in Git

The git fetch command allows you to review changes from a remote repository without altering your local branch. It updates the remote-tracking branches and saves the details in FETCH_HEAD. After fetching, you can manually merge or rebase those changes into your local repository.

This article explains how to use git fetch to update from remote repositories, including specific branches, all remotes, and cleanup tasks.

The Short Answer Version

If you’re already familiar with Git and need quick reference commands for fetching updates:

# Fetch updates from a specific remote
$ git fetch <remote>

# Fetch updates of a specific branch from a remote
$ git fetch <remote> <branch>

# Fetch updates from all remotes
$ git fetch --all

# Remove local references to deleted remote branches
$ git fetch --prune

Common Options for git fetch

The following are some commonly used flags to retrieve updates from remote repositories and manage remote-tracking branches:

Fetch All Remote Updates

Use git fetch command to retrieve the latest updates from a remote repository. This command shows all branches and commits in the remote repository and updates your remote-tracking branches without merging them into your local branches. It helps you review changes made by collaborators while keeping your local work unchanged until you choose to merge or rebase.

Command Syntax

git fetch <remote>

Where <remote> is the remote repository you want to fetch changes from (for example, origin).

Command Demonstration

1. Make a change in the remote repository by editing a file or creating a new commit.

2. In your local repository, verify the remote repository.

   console Copy

   $ git remote -v
   

   Explain Code

   It lists all remote repositories by name along with their URLs.

   Output:

   origin  https://github.com/username/test-repo.git (fetch)
   origin  https://github.com/username/test-repo.git (push)

3. Fetch updates from the remote repository.

   console Copy

   $ git fetch origin
   

   Explain Code

   It fetches updates from all branches on the origin remote and refreshes their remote-tracking branches.

4. Inspect the fetched changes.

   console Copy

   $ git log origin/main
   

   Explain Code

   git log displays the commit history of a branch.

   Sample output:

   commit 8ecb58dbecee84f9fd0b2e0089df7dae63814be4 (origin/main, origin/HEAD)
   Author: username <username@gmail.com>
   Date: Sun Sep 7 22:14:54 2025 +0530
   
       New Line Added

5. Merge the new changes

   console Copy

   $ git merge origin/main -m "commit message"
   

   Explain Code

   git merge merges the changes you fetched.

Fetch a Specific Remote Branch

Using git fetch with a branch name retrieves updates from a specific remote-tracking branch on the remote repository. This is useful when you only want to review or integrate changes from one feature or topic branch, instead of fetching updates for all branches.

Command Syntax

git fetch <remote> <branch>

Command Demonstration

1. Make changes to a remote branch in your remote repository and commit changes to the remote branch you want to fetch.

2. In your local repository, fetch a specific remote branch.

   console Copy

   $ git fetch origin feature-login
   

   Explain Code

   It fetches updates only from the feature-login branch on the origin remote and updates your remote-tracking branch origin/feature-login.

3. Review the Fetched Branch

   console Copy

   $ git log origin/feature-login
   

   Explain Code

   It shows the commit history of the remote-tracking branch origin/feature-login.

4. Merge the remote branch into your local branch

   console Copy

   $ git merge origin/feature-login -m "commit message"
   

   Explain Code

   It merges the changes you fetched from the remote feature-login branch into your current local branch.

Fetch From All Remotes

If you have multiple remote servers, you can use the --all flag to fetch changes from all the remote servers. This updates the remote-tracking branches for all remotes, allowing you to review or merge changes.

$ git fetch --all

It fetches all changes from each remote and updates their remote-tracking branches so you can review or merge updates into your local branches.

Clean Up Deleted Remote Branches

Sometimes, the collaborators of your projects delete branches in your remote repository. You should remove them to avoid cluttering your branch list. You can use the git fetch --prune command to remove these stale remote-tracking branches.

$ git fetch --prune

It removes references to remote branches that no longer exist, without touching your local branches.

Conclusion

You’ve learned to use git fetch to review changes from remote repositories, fetch specific branches, update all remotes, and clean up deleted remote-tracking branches. These commands help you stay updated with collaborators’ work while keeping your local repository safe. For more details and advanced configuration options, refer to the official Git documentation.