How to fetch changes without merging in Git

Short answer

git fetch downloads remote commits and refs without merging them into your local branches.

Steps

1. Fetch all remotes:

git fetch --all

2. Fetch a specific remote:

git fetch origin

3. Inspect fetched changes:

git log HEAD..origin/main

4. Prune deleted remote branches:

git fetch --prune

Tips

• Fetch often to stay aware of remote changes without affecting your work.
• Compare branches after fetching: git diff main origin/main.
• --prune cleans up local references to deleted remote branches.

Common issues

• Fetching does not update your working directory; merge or rebase manually.
• Large repositories may benefit from git fetch --depth for partial history.