Change a branch name in a Git repo

Question

How do I rename an existing branch in a Git repo?

I want the current branch to have a new name.

accept an answer @Alex or say why you don't want to accept it. — Charlie Parker, Jun 26 '14 at 20:29
@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
@J.B. OMG are you saying something may have happened to him???!!!!!!!!! — abbood, Sep 16 '14 at 09:18
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
Does this answer your question? [How do I rename both a Git local and remote branch name?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30590083/how-do-i-rename-both-a-git-local-and-remote-branch-name) — Ricardo, May 17 '23 at 07:07

score 500 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 05 '10 at 19:25

500

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.

answered Oct 05 '10 at 19:25

Richard Fearn

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Or `git branch -m other-branch renamed-other-branch` if you're not. – mipadi Oct 05 '10 at 19:27
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Also, 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
1

@mipadi, it creates the new branch and don't delete the previous one. – Mohammad Arif Aug 03 '15 at 09:17
git branch (-m | -M) [] Didn't work for me, giving the syntax error. – Mohammad Arif Aug 03 '15 at 09:18
@MohammedArif With `-m`, it *renames* the old branch, so it *does* delete the previous one. – Richard Fearn Aug 03 '15 at 09:35
@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
@RichardFearn, I was mentioning mipadi, not to you actually :) – Mohammad Arif Aug 03 '15 at 12:37
@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
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
@MohammedArif: When you rename it, it won't be removed from any remotes, just your local repo. – mipadi Aug 04 '15 at 05:09

score 215 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 11 '18 at 14:49

215

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

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20150929104013/http://blog.changecong.com:80/2012/10/rename-a-remote-branch-on-github

edited Jan 11 '18 at 14:49

styrofoam fly

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answered Oct 01 '15 at 19:35

javierdvalle

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I 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
5

Agreed 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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beware 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
This is the perfect answer which handles both remote and local branch renaming, thanks a lot. – Shreyasikhar26 Apr 25 '23 at 08:33

Change a branch name in a Git repo

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