How to Resolve GitLab Merge Conflicts

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Resolve in the GitLab UI

   Copy steps
   1. Open the merge request and click Resolve conflicts.
   2. Pick "Use ours" or "Use theirs" per section, or switch to Edit inline.
   3. Add a commit message and click Commit to source branch.
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Resolve locally with a merge

   Copy steps
   1. git fetch origin && git switch my-branch.
   2. git merge origin/main, edit the files with conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>).
   3. git add the files, git commit, git push.
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Resolve locally with a rebase

   Copy steps
   1. git rebase origin/main.
   2. Fix each conflict, git add, git rebase --continue.
   3. git push --force-with-lease (only on your own branch).
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. When Resolve conflicts is missing

   Copy steps
   1. Binary files, renamed files and very large diffs cannot be resolved in the UI; use the local steps.
   2. Comment /rebase in the merge request to try a server-side rebase.
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Merge request shows "There are merge conflicts" and the Merge button is disabled; "Resolve conflicts" may be missing.

Why it happens

• Both branches changed the same lines
• File renamed or deleted on one side
• Binary or very large files, which the web editor cannot resolve
• Branch is far behind the target branch

This guide also covers

• gitlab merge conflicts
• gitlab resolve conflicts button missing
• gitlab there are merge conflicts
• gitlab cannot merge conflicts

Other GitLab errors

• GitLab Permission Denied (publickey) Error
• GitLab Pipeline Stuck on Pending
• GitLab Runner Not Picking Up Jobs
• GitLab "HTTP Basic: Access Denied" on Push or Clone
• GitLab "You Are Not Allowed to Push Code to Protected Branches"
• GitLab "No More Compute Minutes" or CI Minutes Quota Exceeded
• GitLab Pipeline Not Running or "yaml invalid"
• Why Is GitLab So Slow?