How to fix CONFLICT (modify/delete): file.txt deleted in branch and modified in HEAD in Git

Run git status to see which files are in conflict and understand the situation:

git status

Look for files listed under 'Unmerged paths'. The output will indicate whether the file was 'deleted by them' (deleted in the branch you're merging) or 'deleted by us' (deleted in your current branch).

Before deciding whether to keep or delete the file, review what changes were made. You can see the modifications using:

git diff HEAD -- path/to/file.txt

Or to see the file's history and understand why it might have been deleted:

git log --oneline -- path/to/file.txt

If you want to keep your modifications and restore the file, stage it with git add:

git add path/to/file.txt

This tells Git to include the file in the merge result with your modifications intact.

If the file should be deleted (perhaps the modifications are no longer needed), remove it with git rm:

git rm path/to/file.txt

This tells Git to accept the deletion and not include the file in the merge result.

After resolving all conflicts, complete the merge by committing:

git commit

Or if you're in the middle of a merge:

git merge --continue

Git will open your editor for a commit message. The default merge commit message usually works fine.

For a more interactive approach, you can use git mergetool:

git mergetool

This will prompt you for each conflicted file. For modify/delete conflicts, it will ask whether you want to keep the modified version (press 'm') or delete the file (press 'd').