# Git Pushing and pulling

**Pushing** sends your commits to a remote; **pulling** fetches and merges from a remote. Push when you've committed changes locally and want to share them. Pull before pushing to avoid conflicts, and pull regularly to stay in sync with teammates.

```bash
$ git push <remote> <branch> # push commits to remote
$ git push origin main       # common: push main to origin
$ git pull <remote> <branch> # fetch and merge from remote
$ git pull origin main       # common: pull main from origin
$ git fetch <remote>         # fetch without merging
```

`git pull` is shorthand for `git fetch` followed by `git merge`. If the remote has new commits you haven't pulled yet, pushing will fail—you must pull first to avoid overwriting teammates' work. Use `git pull --rebase` if you prefer rebasing over merging.