Can't pull or push after git clone - local changes

Question

I created a new directory c:\\Src, where I've cloned a repository. After cloning I get the following

$ git branch  
* Search

$ git branch -a  
* Search  
remotes/origin/master  
remotes/origin/prototype

If i then try

$ git checkout -b master origin/master  

it returns

error: You have local changes to '<some_file>'; cannot switch branches

pull gives the same error.

I have not made any changes, and I'm confused why it doesn't use the master branch as default?

Answer 1

Firstly, you might want to checkout a tracking branch for master. You can use -t or -track instead of the -b (or if you have a recent version of git you can just use git checkout origin/master and it will automatically create a tracking branch).

As for your specific error, you should run git status to see if you have any local changes. If you do, you can then run git stash , do your checkout/pull and then git stash pop afterwards.