"launch external merge tool" is disabled on the "Resolve conflicts" menu
Asked by petebr:

I have tried every available config for external merge tools, beyond compare is my preference, but whatever I try the menu to launch it is disabled. I've tried each option on the preconfigured dropdown and a custom path direct to beyond compare. What can I do to fix this? I can't fix my conflicts!

2015-06-02 19_47_28-SourceTree.png  
[](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Sourcetree-questions/quot-launch-external-merge-tool-quot-is-disabled-on-the-quot/qaq-p/45996?attachment-id=3942){#link_116a46e4b6a5e2}  
[](/tnckb94959/attachments/tnckb94959/sourcetree-questions/1339/1/2015-06-02%2019_47_28-SourceTree.png){#display_116a46e4b6a5e2_0}


Answers:
author: sreekumar_menon
body: if you select a file that has code conflict , this option will be enabled. in your case (from screenshot) I believe that you don't have a conflict , that is why it is disabled.

comments: author: Seth
body: This is correct. Try selecting "External Diff" (It's above "Add").


author: petebr
body: External diff does work but I can't resolve conflicts with it. What else flags a file as conflicted if not the conflict comments that the merging added to my files?


author: mvalentiner
body: I had the same problem. I had to mark the files unresolved to get the "Launch External Merge Tool" menu item to be enabled.


author: sreekumar_menon
body: My guess is that one of the previous commit had a merge and it was not resolved correctly either by you or someone else. so the markers was committed to git. you may open that file in a text editor and manually remove those markers and duplicate code .

comments: author: petebr
body: No sorry, the conflict lines where created in that merge. This is apparent in the screenshot by virtue of them being coloured green in the log view.


author: sreekumar_menon
body: if that was caused in the merge, revert it and redo the merge again or fix it manually. did you resolve conflict after merge, that must be unsuccessful.


author: petebr
body: I tried the same again and here is a larger screenshot:-

2015-06-03 13_21_19-SourceTree.png

I recognise that the file icon show "modified" not "conflict", but look at the change log on the right.

What does "\<\<\<\<\< HEAD" indicate ? is that a conflict or not?  
[](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Sourcetree-questions/quot-launch-external-merge-tool-quot-is-disabled-on-the-quot/qaq-p/45996?attachment-id=10281){#link_116a47077903df}  
[](/tnckb94959/attachments/tnckb94959/sourcetree-questions/1343/1/2015-06-03%2013_21_19-SourceTree.png){#display_116a47077903df_0}

comments: author: Seth
body: Yeah, there was a conflict, but for some reason Git doesn't recognize it as one. Git should set an internal flag whenever the conflict markers are written to the file, but it definitely does not scan the file contents for conflict markers.Try choosing the "Mark Unresolved" option, or maybe "Restart Merge".


author: petebr
body: Had tried "restart merge" with same result. Have not tried "mark unresolved" yet.How does sourcetree determine a conflict? It must be something other than "\<\<\<\< HEAD" etc.


author: Seth
body: Git is responsible for flagging conflicts. SourceTree gets that information from Git. I don't know how Git makes the determination, but it is certainly not by checking file contents (that would be very inefficient, and wouldn't work for binary files).


Tags: merge