git error: failed to push some refs to remote

Question

For some reason, I can't push now, whereas I could do it yesterday. Maybe I messed up with configs or something.

This is what happens:

When I use the git push origin master

What my working directory and remote repository looks like:

Answer 1

(Note: starting Oct. 2020, any new repository is created with the default branch main, not master. And you can rename existing repository default branch from master to main.
The rest of this 2014 answer has been updated to use "main")

If the GitHub repo has seen new commits pushed to it, while you were working locally, I would advise using:

git pull --rebase
git push

The full syntax is:

git pull --rebase origin main
git push origin main

With Git 2.6+ (Sept. 2015), after having done (once)

git config --global pull.rebase true
git config --global rebase.autoStash true

A simple git pull would be enough.
(Note: with Git 2.27 Q2 2020, a merge.autostash is also available for your regular pull, without rebase)

That way, you would replay (the --rebase part) your local commits on top of the newly updated origin/main (or origin/yourBranch: git pull origin yourBranch).

See a more complete example in the chapter 6 Pull with rebase of the Git Pocket Book.

I would recommend a:

# add and commit first
git push -u origin main

That would establish a tracking relationship between your local main branch and its upstream branch.
After that, any future push for that branch can be done with a simple:

git push

See "Why do I need to explicitly push a new branch?".

---

Since the OP already reset and redone its commit on top of origin/main:

git reset --mixed origin/main
git add .
git commit -m "This is a new commit for what I originally planned to be amended"
git push origin main

There is no need to pull --rebase.

Note: git reset --mixed origin/main can also be written git reset origin/main, since the --mixed option is the default one when using git reset.

Answer 2

Did anyone try:

git push -f origin master

That should solve the problem.

EDIT: Based on @Mehdi ‘s comment below I need to clarify something about —force pushing. The git command above works safely only for the first commit. If there were already commits, pull requests or branches in previous, this resets all of it and set it from zero. If so, please refer @VonC ‘s detailed answer for better solution.

Answer 3

If you just used git init and have added your files with git add . or something similar and have added your remote branch it might be that you just haven't committed (git commit -m 'commit message') anything locally to push to the remote... I just had this error and that was my issue.

Answer 4

I had same problem. I was getting this problem because i had not made any commit not even initial commit and still i was trying to push.

Once i did git commit -m "your msg" and then everything worked fine.

Answer 5

Rename your branch and then push, e.g.:

git branch -m new-name
git push -u new-name

This worked for me.

Answer 6

1. git init

2. git remote add origin https://gitlab.com/crew-chief-systems/bot

3. git remote -v (for checking current repository)

4. git add -A(add all files)

5. git commit -m 'Added my project'

6. git pull --rebase origin master

7. git push origin master

Answer 7

I find the solution to this problem in github help.

You can see it from:Dealing with non-fast-forward errors

It says:

You can fix this by fetching and merging the changes made on the remote branch with the changes that you have made locally:

$ git fetch origin
# Fetches updates made to an online repository
$ git merge origin branch
# Merges updates made online with your local work

Or, you can simply use git pull to perform both commands at once:

$ git pull origin branch
# Grabs online updates and merges them with your local work

Answer 8

I followed the following steps and it worked for me.

 rm -rf .git
 git init
 git add .
 git commit -m"first message"
 git remote add origin "LINK"
 git push -u origin master

Answer 9

I had faced same problem,fixed with below steps .

1. git init
2. git add .
3. git commit -m 'Add your commit message'

4. git remote add origin https://[email protected]/User_name/sample.git

   (Above url https://[email protected]/User_name/sample.git refers to your bit bucket project url )

5. git push -u origin master

hint

check if your git hub account link with your local git by using:

git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
git config --global user.name "Your Name"

Answer 10

If you are using gerrit, this could be caused by an inappropriate Change-id in the commit. Try deleting the Change-Id and see what happens.

Answer 11

Remember to commit your changes before pushing to Github repo. This might fix your problem.

Answer 12

Not commiting initial changes before pushing also causes the problem

Answer 13

git push origin {your_local_branch}:{your_remote_branch}

If your local branch and remote branch share the same name, then can you omit your local branch name, just use git push {your_remote_branch}. Otherwise it will throw this error.

Answer 14

I created an empty repo in GitHub, and have my code locally. I faced the same issue now, as I followed the below sequence,

git init
git commit -m 'Initial Commit'
git remote add origin https://github.com/kavinraju/Repo-Name.git
git add .
git push -u origin master

ISSUE WAS: I tried to commit before staging the files I have.

SO WE NEED TO STAGE THE FILES AND THEN COMMIT.

This is the correct sequence.

git init
git add .
git commit -m 'Initial Commit'
git remote add origin https://github.com/kavinraju/Repo-Name.git
git push -u origin master

Since I execute the wrong sequence first, I just execute the below commands

git add .
git commit -m 'Initial Commit'
git push -u origin master

Answer 15

Because maybe have nothing to push (really, no thing to push). Do like this

git remote add origin https://github.com/donhuvy/accounting133.git
git remote -v
git add .
git commit -m"upload"
git push --set-upstream origin master

Change the remote repository url in your case. Command git remote -v you can skip, just for checking.

Answer 16

before push you have to add and commit the changes or do git push -f origin master

Answer 17

I faced this issue but after 2 days I got a solution. Just run these two commands if you are deploying your site on GitHub pages first time.

git commit -m "initial commit"
git push origin +HEAD

Answer 18

Try this git command,

git push origin master –f
git push origin master --force

Answer 19

Using a Git repo in Azure DevOps, the problem was a branch policy requiring that all changes to the branch must be made via pull request. Trying to push changes directly to the branch generated the error "failed to push some refs to ...". I created a PR-branch and pushed without problem.

Answer 20

Creating a new branch solved for me:

git checkout -b <nameOfNewBranch>

As expected no need to merge since previous branch was fully contained in the new one.

Answer 21

It may happen when you don't have any files. Try to create a text file then follow the following commands

git add .
git commit -m "first commit"
git push --set-upstream origin master

Answer 22

For me the Problem was, I did not add the files before the commit.

git add .

git commit -m "your msg"

Answer 23

do these

git rm --cached *
git add .
git commit -m"upload"
git push --set-upstream origin master

Happy coding!

Answer 24

Best use rm -rf .git/hooks and then try git push

Answer 25

In my case there was a problem with a git pre-push hook.

Run git push --verbose to see if there are any errors.

Double check your git-hooks in the directory .git/hooks or move them temporarily to another place and see if everything works after that.

Answer 26

Github changed the default branch name from master to main. So if you created the repo recently, try pushing main branch

git push origin main

This is a common mistake, beginners can make.

Github Article

Answer 27

Not sure if this applies, but the fix for me was to commit something locally after git init. Then I pushed to remote using --set-upstream ...

Answer 28

If you are attempting to initialize a directory with an existing GitHub repository, you should ensure you are committing changes.

Try creating a file:

touch initial
git add initial
git commit -m "initial commit"
git push -u origin master

That will place a file named initial that you can delete later.

Hope this answer helps! Goodluck!

Answer 29

In my case, it was my husky package that disallows the push.

> husky - pre-push hook failed (add --no-verify to bypass)
> husky - to debug, use 'npm run prepush'
error: failed to push some refs to 'https://[email protected]/username/my-api.git'

To push it forcefully, just run git push origin master --no-verify

I ran npm run prepush to see debug the error, and this was the cause:

npm ERR! code ELOCKVERIFY
npm ERR! Errors were found in your npm-shrinkwrap.json, run  npm install  to fix them.
npm ERR!     Invalid: lock file's [email protected] does not satisfy loopback-utils@^0.9.0

Ran npm install and commit it, and the problem is fixed.

Answer 30

In my case branch name prefix was already present at remote so basically if you have a branch name 'fix' you cannot push another branch with name 'fix/new_branch_name', renaming branch solved my problem.