How to Safely Force Pull or Force Push Without Breaking Everything

A practical guide to understanding when force is appropriate in Git and how to use it safely without losing work or breaking shared branches.

You try to pull or push.
Git refuses.

You see errors about diverging branches or non-fast-forward updates, and someone suggests:

“Just force it.”

Sometimes that’s correct.
Often, it’s how things get worse.

This guide explains what force actually does in Git, when it’s appropriate, and how to use it safely without deleting commits or breaking other people’s work.

No fear-mongering. No blanket rules. Just clear context and safe steps.

What this guide covers

• What “force” actually means in Git
• When force push or force pull is appropriate
• When force should not be used
• How to safely inspect history before forcing
• Why --force-with-lease is safer than --force
• How to reset safely without losing local work
• How to recover commits after a bad force
• Common mistakes that cause real damage

What this guide is NOT

• Not advice to force everything
• Not a Git internals deep dive
• Not “just copy this command and hope”

This is a focused troubleshooting guide for one of the riskiest Git operations.

Who this is for

• Developers blocked by push or pull errors
• Anyone unsure when force is actually safe
• Developers working with rebases or rewritten history
• Teams trying to avoid accidental data loss

Format

• PDF
• Clean, skimmable layout
• Step-by-step checklists
• Easy to reference before running destructive commands

If you’ve ever hesitated before using force, this guide gives you the clarity to proceed safely.

What You’ll Learn

• What force actually does in Git
• When force push or pull is appropriate
• Why --force-with-lease is safer
• How to inspect history before forcing
• How to reset safely without losing work
• How to recover commits after a bad force