git checkout master does not switch branch - repository broken?

Question

tl;dr: git checkout master does not switch to master branch, gives no error or any output at all and I have no clue why. Any other branch works

Answer 1

If your repo has a folder or file name the same as a branch name then you will need to: git checkout xyz -- with the extra -- at the end. It tells git to use a branch or commit instead of trying to use a folder/file name.

Found the answer on another stackoverflow post: Git change branch when file of same name is present