GitHub "Failed to publish this branch" error on Windows

Question

I'm new to Git, and I just downloaded it yesterday. As a test for my first online (not local) repository, I committed a useless text file and then hit publish. After a short while, I got this very non-descriptive error:

Enter image description here

So I know that I can't publish to this branch. There's only one and it's the master branch. Is there any further information on what might be causing this error?

As a side note, my partner has successfully uploaded files to the same repository, but I haven't gotten any sort of indication that this has happened. Does this mean I'm not connected to the repository properly in some way? I was the one who set it up!

Hi, open the terminal, and type `git push`. You'll then have a much clearer error message. — Simon Boudrias, Dec 15 '12 at 19:27
Thank you for the advice. Do you know how I would do this on a windows machine? — user1706538, Dec 15 '12 at 22:11
Yes, with your favourite command line (work mostly the same everywhere). In Github for windows you have the option to open a terminal directly in the project folder. — Simon Boudrias, Dec 16 '12 at 02:52

score 37 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:12

37

In Windows, right click on your repository → click on Open a shell here.

You will see a command prompt.

Type git push in it. (been aware after seeing SimonBoudrias comment)

The command prompt will suggest you to type some other command or shows an error.

If the command prompt suggest you to type something else, then type that. It will work.
If the command prompt shows an error, then please post the detailed error here.

Information: You might want to check this app

edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:12

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 27 '13 at 07:12

Mr_Green

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I did what you said, and I get the error:`To https://github.com/Kill-Console/RegexTester.git ! [rejected] master -> master (fetch first) error: failed to push some refs to 'https://github.com/Kill-Console/RegexTester. git' hint: Updates were rejected because the remote contains work that you do hint: not have locally. This is usually caused by another repository pushing hint: to the same ref. You may want to first integrate the remote changes hint: (e.g., 'git pull ...') before pushing again. hint: See the 'Note about fast-forwards' in 'git push --help' for details.` – Kill Console Dec 20 '13 at 03:18
Read the error - it says "You may want to first integrate the remote changes hint: (e.g. 'git pull...') before pushing again. – cf_phil Apr 15 '14 at 08:10
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After trying `git push` it suggested I try `git push --set-upstream origin master` which I did but then I got the error: `fatal: unable to access 'https://github.com/username/evolution.git/': Failed connect to github.com:443; No error`. (By the way evolution is the name of the repo.) So what should I do now? – 2016rshah Jul 28 '14 at 17:47
Switch to SSH. In the command line tool... git remote set-url origin git@github.com:myname/myrepo.git – Gabe Halsmer Mar 10 '15 at 14:35
If you need to do a pull first, try git pull .git, then do the push again – JsonStatham Feb 27 '16 at 00:33
This resolved my issues as with others above, in order to get the GitHub desktop to properly understand those changes it just needed a simple restart then Syncing worked properly. – Sup3rpanda May 30 '16 at 22:54

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 06 '14 at 11:19

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Open a shell in your repository. Then type

git push --set-upstream origin master --force

This will upload your local repo to the server no matter what, overwriting if necessary. This should only be done if you're sure nobody else is publishing to your repo at the moment.

edited Apr 06 '14 at 11:19

Has AlTaiar

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answered Mar 21 '14 at 16:19

Nallebeorn

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score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:21

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I had the same issue as mentioned here, but none of the previous solutions helped. Then I found this answer which talks about Proxy settings, which is exactly why GitHub was failing to commit on my machine.

To set up your proxy settings, you just need to use this command:

git config --global http.proxy http[s]://userName:password@proxyaddress:port

edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:21

Peter Mortensen

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answered Apr 01 '14 at 05:47

Has AlTaiar

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score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 06 '14 at 11:12

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Another possibility is a temporary unavailability of GitHub servers.

I'm just having the same problem and confirmed that it's a server issue: https://status.github.com/

Sample screenshot:

GitHub temporarily down

edited Apr 06 '14 at 11:12

pixelistik

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answered Nov 10 '13 at 18:58

Jose Luis Blanco

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score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:15

To fix it, open a command prompt in the repository. For example, by pressing the cog in the top right in the repo view and selecting "open a shell here".

In the command prompt, type git push --set-upstream origin master
Either this will work, or it will say ! [rejected] master -> master (fetch first)
If this happens, type git pull origin master (add --rebase if you like)

In GitHub, the Publish button might still be visible instead of the sync button. If this is the case, simply restart GitHub.

This resets the default remote branch for your local branch to master.

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:19

Maybe you just forget type something to the Description area when you commit your files. Someone like me only type the summery. So make sure you have fill in the Summary and Description when you commit.

Just type something to the Description textarea when committing. Then I published successfully.

What I do:

Go to the folder of your repository in Windows Explorer
Delete the file your want to publish. And recreate it.
Open GitHub for Windows and click on your repository. Then you will find Uncommitted changes on the left side.
Type your Summary
Type your Description (the most important step!)
Commit to master
Hit Publish and you should be successful.

This is my first answer. so i have no 10 reputation to post an image......hope help you.

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:27

1

I had this error since I forgot to add a remote repository link in the GitHub Desktop. Once I added the correct repository link, everything worked.

edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:27

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 12 '16 at 12:14

Ivy Growing

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 10 '14 at 17:27

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Try to commit your changes before publishing. It helps me to solve same problem.

answered Feb 10 '14 at 17:27

VladimirS

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score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:23

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I too had the same problem while publishing my GitHub page. I solved it in the following way.

git push

I got the error message here. Then I made a pull request

git pull

After this I made the push again

git push

Here I got the solution.

Note: I use GitHub for Windows. And I finally published the page using it

edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:23

Peter Mortensen

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answered Sep 18 '14 at 09:40

Robin Raju

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 24 '14 at 12:25

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I was getting that error because I hadn't properly configured my name and email. On the page where you do that (in the native app, at least), you'll see that the page opens with your name and email already filled in but that doesn't mean that they're saved as settings. In order to save them, you have to press the check mark in the bottom left corner of that screen.

answered Sep 24 '14 at 12:25

PapaHotelPapa

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This is one of the few cases where a screenshot would be appropriate. – Peter Mortensen Mar 02 '23 at 18:25

score 0 · Answer 11 · edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:26

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I got this error because I already had created a repository with the same name on GitHub, and then created it locally and tried to commit it. The solution was to delete it from GitHub, then commit it from the local client. Now they're in sync.

edited Mar 02 '23 at 18:26

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 19 '16 at 00:55

Vincent

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GitHub "Failed to publish this branch" error on Windows

11 Answers11