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Git error: cannot lock ref ..unable to create..

Jun 02, 2023 · 1 min read · Post a comment

Since Stack Exchange decided to follow the same path as Reddit in terms of restricting access to the content, I’ll try to share with you as many error “hacky” solutions as possible. Here’s one though regarding Git while trying to pull any changes from remote origin: error: cannot lock ref 'refs/remotes/origin/main': Unable to create '/Users/<something>/repos/<some_repo>/.git/refs/remotes/origin/main.lock': File exists.

Prerequisites

  • Git

Solution

Couple things you could try:

  1. Just remove the file described in the error message itself.
  2. git remote prune origin
  3. git gc

Conclusion

In case you face any issues, feel free to leave a comment below and if you find this tutorial useful, follow our official channel on Telegram.

git errors