How to Fix Git Stash Pop Conflict Error

In this tutorial, you'll learn about How to Fix Git Stash Pop Conflict Error. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices.

You run git stash pop and get CONFLICT — the stashed changes conflict with changes in your current working directory.

The Problem

Auto-merging index.html
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in index.html
The stash entry is kept in case you need it again.

Note: Git keeps the stash when there is a conflict, unlike a successful pop which removes it.

Step-by-Step Fix

Step 1: Identify conflicted files

git status

Unmerged paths:
  both modified:   index.html

Step 2: View the conflict

Open the file to see conflict markers:

<<<<<<< Updated upstream
<h1>Current changes</h1>
=======
<h1>Stashed changes</h1>
>>>>>>> Stashed changes

Step 3: Resolve the conflict

Edit the file, keeping the correct version and removing markers:

<h1>Merged changes</h1>

Step 4: Mark as resolved and commit

git add index.html
git commit -m "Restore stashed changes"

Step 5: Drop the stash manually

Since Git kept the stash after the conflict, drop it:

git stash drop

Step 6: Alternative — use git stash apply

Instead of pop, use apply to keep the stash:

git stash apply

Then if everything is fine:

git stash drop

Step 7: Use git checkout for specific files

# Restore stashed changes for specific files
git checkout stash@{0} -- index.html

# Then drop the stash
git stash drop

Prevention Tips

• Stash only clean, committed changes
• Use git stash apply instead of pop to test first
• Keep the stash until you verify everything works
• Check git stash show to preview stashed changes
• Commit or revert working directory changes before unstashing

Common Mistakes with stash pop

1. Using foldl instead of foldl' causing stack overflow on large lists
2. Forgetting deriving (Show, Eq) on custom data types needed for debugging
3. Placing the wildcard pattern first in case expressions, making all subsequent patterns unreachable

These mistakes appear frequently in real-world GIT code. DodaTech's contributors have identified these patterns through analysis of open-source projects and production systems.

Practice Exercise

Write a pure function that safely divides two integers using Maybe, then test it with edge cases like division by zero and negative numbers.

This exercise reinforces the concepts covered in this guide. Try implementing it before checking online solutions.

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