git fetch + git pull — Getting Remote Changes

Downloading Updates

git fetch origin        # download changes, DON'T merge yet
git fetch --all         # fetch from all remotes

git pull                # fetch + merge in one step
git pull --rebase       # fetch + rebase (cleaner history)

fetch vs pull

git fetch is safe — it downloads remote commits into origin/main but doesn't touch your working files. You can inspect before merging:

git fetch
git log HEAD..origin/main --oneline   # what's new on remote?
git diff HEAD origin/main             # what changed?
git merge origin/main                 # now bring it in

git pull = git fetch + git merge (or rebase) all at once.

Typical workflow

git pull              # start of day: get latest
# ... do your work ...
git push              # end of day: share your work

Your Task

A colleague has pushed a commit to origin/main. Use git pull to bring those changes into your local repo.