How do you rename a Git commit pushed to GitHub?

Question

I stupidly pushed a commit to GitHub with a very messed up commit name. How do I change this?

Does git commit --amend still work for already pushed commit?

I would not recommend `git push --force`. You want to be explicit and only force that what you need to be forced. For example: `git push --force origin specific-branch`. You can also use the short form of force `-f`. Short forms can be joined together as one option as well. Eg. `git push -uf origin mybranch` — Adam Dymitruk, Jul 22 '12 at 21:24
Related question - [How do I git rebase the first commit](https://stackoverflow.com/a/23000315/6908282) & related [arcticle](https://medium.com/@_oleksii_/how-to-change-a-commit-message-in-git-after-push-32d1fbd6fc3b) — Gangula, Nov 11 '22 at 11:00

score 135 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '12 at 20:08

135

git commit --amend

which will bring up your editor, or

git commit --amend -m "Your new message here"

which will allow you to specify the new message on the command line. Also possible, but more useful if you have other commits to reword

git rebase -i HEAD^
# then replace 'pick' with 'r' or 'reword' and save, editor should pop up again to edit the msg

Because this commit has a new SHA1 due to the change of the contents, you will need to force push the new reference. The force is needed because it tells git to forget about the previous commit. It's a safety measure.

git push origin your-branch-name -f

answered Jul 22 '12 at 20:08

Adam Dymitruk

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Something to keep in mind, if you're working on a large project where someone may have already checked out the commit you're replacing, then their work on top of that becomes very difficult to merge in. – Robert Rouhani Jul 22 '12 at 20:13
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If you're renaming stuff, it's really trivial. All they need to do is `git fetch` and `git rebase origin/master` assuming they are working on master. No conflicts as no snapshots were altered. – Adam Dymitruk Jul 22 '12 at 21:21
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What if it's not the last commit? – anilbey Aug 30 '18 at 16:18
@anilbey My question also. Did you find a solution? – Olle Härstedt Aug 14 '23 at 07:38
git rebase -i has a reword option that will do it. – anilbey Aug 14 '23 at 10:09

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 28 '22 at 09:18

0

To make changes in already pushed commit, please do that

git reset --soft HEAD~1
git add .
git commit -m "custom message"
git push -u -f origin master

answered Feb 28 '22 at 09:18

Guru

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How do you rename a Git commit pushed to GitHub?

2 Answers2