Fix 'Unable to create index.lock: File exists'

Does this match your situation?

• 'fatal: Unable to create .git/index.lock: File exists.'
• 'Another git process seems to be running in this repository.'
• Every Git command fails the same way, including git status.
• It started after a crash, a force-quit, or closing your IDE mid-operation.

Step-by-step fix

1. Make sure no Git process is genuinely running

   Deleting the lock while a real command is mid-write can corrupt the index. Check first — this takes two seconds and removes all doubt.

   step 1Copy

   ps aux | grep -i '[g]it'
   

   Show the PowerShell (Windows) version

   PowerShell (Windows)Copy

   Get-Process git -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
   Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.ProcessName -like '*git*' }
   

   ⚠️Also close VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, GitHub Desktop and any Git GUI - they run Git in the background constantly.

2. Delete the lock file

   With nothing running, the lock is stale and safe to remove. Git recreates it the next time it needs one.

   step 2Copy

   rm -f .git/index.lock
   

   Show the PowerShell (Windows) version

   PowerShell (Windows)Copy

   Remove-Item .git\index.lock -Force
   

3. Check whether the index survived

   Run status to confirm Git is healthy again. If it reports a corrupt index, rebuilding it from HEAD is safe — the index is derived data, not history.

   step 3Copy

   git status
   
   # only if the index itself is broken:
   rm -f .git/index
   git reset
   

   💡Deleting .git/index loses your staging selection, not any committed work. You'll need to re-stage.

4. Look for other stale locks

   The index isn't the only thing Git locks. A crash during a ref update or a config write can leave those behind too.

   step 4Copy

   find .git -name '*.lock'
   # then remove the specific ones you find, e.g.:
   rm -f .git/refs/heads/main.lock
   

   Show the PowerShell (Windows) version

   PowerShell (Windows)Copy

   Get-ChildItem .git -Recurse -Filter *.lock
   

Why this works

Git uses lock files to make index and ref updates atomic: it writes to `index.lock`, then renames it over `index`, so a crash can never leave a half-written index. The rename is what releases the lock. If the process dies before that, the lock file remains and every later command refuses to start, because from Git's point of view another process might still be writing. The lock is pure coordination state — deleting a genuinely stale one is completely safe.

If that didn’t work

• If the lock reappears instantly, an editor extension or file watcher is running Git in a loop - close it and retry.
• On Windows, antivirus or a file-sync client (OneDrive, Dropbox) can hold the file open; pause it and retry.
• If .git sits inside a synced folder, move the repository out of it - sync clients and Git conflict constantly.

How to stop it happening again

• Don't force-quit while a Git command is running.
• Keep repositories out of OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive folders.
• Exclude .git directories from real-time antivirus scanning if you hit this often on Windows.

Commands used in this guide

Frequently asked questions