How do I rename an existing branch in a Git repo?
I want the current branch to have a new name.
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3accept an answer @Alex or say why you don't want to accept it. – Charlie Parker Jun 26 '14 at 20:29
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2@CharlieParker It probably has something to do with the fact that this was Alex's only question, and he probably hasn't logged in since: "Last seen Feb 3 '11 at 21:29" – yellow-saint Sep 06 '14 at 19:47
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15@J.B. OMG are you saying something may have happened to him???!!!!!!!!! – abbood Sep 16 '14 at 09:18
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1Could the highly voted answer to this be accepted? – Steve Chambers Jan 10 '15 at 17:56
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Possible duplicate of [How do I rename a local Git branch?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6591213/how-do-i-rename-a-local-git-branch) – Vineet Jain Aug 26 '17 at 16:08
2 Answers
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Assuming you're currently on the branch you want to rename:
git branch -m newname
This is documented in the manual for git-branch, which you can view using
man git-branch
or
git help branch
Specifically, the command is
git branch (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
where the parameters are:
<oldbranch>
The name of an existing branch to rename.
<newbranch>
The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for <branchname> apply.
<oldbranch> is optional, if you want to rename the current branch.
Richard Fearn
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33Also, if you've pushed the old branch to a remote, you can delete it with `git push origin :branchname`. That would allow you to push the new one and delete the old one, essentially renaming it on the remote. – Jonathan Oct 07 '10 at 14:52
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1@mipadi, it creates the new branch and don't delete the previous one. – Mohammad Arif Aug 03 '15 at 09:17
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git branch (-m | -M) [
] – Mohammad Arif Aug 03 '15 at 09:18Didn't work for me, giving the syntax error. -
@MohammedArif With `-m`, it *renames* the old branch, so it *does* delete the previous one. – Richard Fearn Aug 03 '15 at 09:35
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@MohammedArif Perhaps you could ask a new question if the command doesn't work for you? With or without the `-m`/`-M` options, it *should* work :) – Richard Fearn Aug 03 '15 at 09:37
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@MohammedArif: With the `-m` flag, it will rename `other-branch` to `renamed-other-branch`. The `other-branch` name will no longer exist. – mipadi Aug 03 '15 at 16:47
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It does @mipadi, that's where written down the comment, I had to remove it using 'git push origin :branchname' – Mohammad Arif Aug 04 '15 at 04:11
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@MohammedArif: When you rename it, it won't be removed from any remotes, just your local repo. – mipadi Aug 04 '15 at 05:09
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If you're currently on the branch you want to rename:
git branch -m new_name
Or else:
git branch -m old_name new_name
You can check with:
git branch -a
As you can see, only the local name changed Now, to change the name also in the remote you must do:
git push origin :old_name
This removes the branch, then upload it with the new name:
git push origin new_name
styrofoam fly
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javierdvalle
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16I think this is the correct answer, the highly voted answer by Richard Feam only covers local repo, this one covers remote. – user1145404 Feb 23 '16 at 17:40
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4Agreed with the comment above, this answer was more complete in my case. Also, when I pushed additional commits to the remote branch after doing all the steps mentioned in this answer, git tried to push to the `old_name` branch again. Fortunately, git also supplied a fix in the command line: `git-branch --unset-upstream`. After this, all pushed commits went to the `new_name` remote branch. – Hans Roerdinkholder Apr 11 '16 at 12:26
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2beware that this way you lost the faculty to push with `git push` because you gent a warning whi says `Your branch is based on 'old_name, but the upstream is gone.` A `git push -u origin new_name` solve it. – netalex Feb 08 '19 at 15:07