I don't want to rename a remote branch, as described in Rename master branch for both local and remote Git repositories.
How can I rename a local branch which hasn't been pushed to a remote branch?
In case you need to rename remote branch as well:
How do I rename both a Git local and remote branch name
If you want to rename a branch while pointed to any branch, do:
git branch -m <oldname> <newname>
If you want to rename the current branch, you can do:
git branch -m <newname>
If you want to push the local branch and reset the upstream branch:
git push origin -u <newname>
And finally if you want to Delete the remote branch:
git push origin --delete <oldname>
A way to remember this is -m is for "move" (or mv), which is how you rename files. Adding an alias could also help. To do so, run the following:
git config --global alias.rename 'branch -m'
If you are on Windows or another case-insensitive filesystem, and there are only capitalization changes in the name, you need to use -M, otherwise, git will throw branch already exists error:
git branch -M <newname>
git branch -m old_branch_name new_branch_name
The above command will change your branch name, but you have to be very careful using the renamed branch, because it will still refer to the old upstream branch associated with it, if any.
If you want to push some changes into master after your local branch is renamed into new_branch_name (example name):
git push origin new_branch_name:master (now changes will go to master branch but your local branch name is new_branch_name)
For more details, see "How to rename your local branch name in Git."
Here are the steps to rename the branch:
git branch -m <new_name>git push origin :<old_name>git push origin <new_name>:refs/heads/<new_name>EDIT (12/01/2017): Make sure you run command git status and check that the newly created branch is pointing to its own ref and not the older one. If you find the reference to the older branch, you need to unset the upstream using:
git branch --unset-upstream
Rename the branch will be useful once your branch is finished. Then new stuff is coming, and you want to develop in the same branch instead of deleting it and create the new one.
From my experience, to rename a local and remote branch in Git you should do the following steps.
Quoting from Multiple States - Rename a local and remote branch in git
If you are on the branch you want to rename:
git branch -m new-name
If you are on a different branch:
git branch -m old-name new-name
git push origin :old-name new-name
git push origin -u new-name
The answers so far have been correct, but here is some additional information:
One can safely rename a branch with '-m' (move), but one has to be careful with '-M', because it forces the rename, even if there is an existing branch with the same name already. Here is the excerpt from the 'git-branch' man page:
With a -m or -M option,
<oldbranch>will be renamed to<newbranch>. If<oldbranch>had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match<newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch renaming. If<newbranch>exists, -M must be used to force the rename to happen.
If it is your current branch, just do
git branch -m new_name
If it is another branch you want to rename
git branch -m old_name new_name
- If your branch was pushed, then after renaming you need to delete it from the remote Git repository and ask your new local to track a new remote branch:
git push origin :old_name
git push --set-upstream origin new_name
I foolishly named a branch starting with a hyphen, and then checked out master. I didn't want to delete my branch, I had work in it.
Neither of these worked:
git checkout -dumb-name
git checkout -- -dumb-name
"s, 's and \s didn't help either. git branch -m doesn't work.
Here's how I finally fixed it. Go into your working copy's .git/refs/heads, find the filename "-dumb-name", get the hash of the branch. Then this will check it out, make a new branch with a sane name, and delete the old one.
git checkout {hash}
git checkout -b brilliant-name
git branch -d -- -dumb-name
Rename the branch using this command:
git branch -m [old_branch_name] [new_branch_name]
-m: It renames/moves the branch. If there is already a branch, you will get an error.
If there is already a branch and you want to rename with that branch, use:
git rename -M [old_branch_name] [new_branch_name]
For more information about help, use this command in the terminal:
git branch --help
or
man git branch
If you are on the branch you want to rename:
git branch -m new-name
If you are on a different branch:
git branch -m old-name new-name
git push origin :old-name new-name
git push origin -u new-name
Or for a fast way to do that, you can use these 3 steps:
# Rename branch locally
git branch -m old_branch new_branch
# Delete the old remote branch
git push origin :old_branch
# Push the new branch, set local branch to track the new remote
git push --set-upstream origin new_branch
Referance: https://www.w3docs.com/snippets/git/how-to-rename-git-local-and-remote-branches.html
Here are three steps: A command that you can call inside your terminal and change branch name.
git branch -m old_branch new_branch # Rename branch locally
git push origin :old_branch # Delete the old branch
git push --set-upstream origin new_branch # Push the new branch, set local branch to track the new remote
If you need more: step-by-step, How To Change Git Branch Name is a good article about that.
Probably as mentioned by others, this will be a case mismatch in branch naming.
If you have such a situation, I can guess that you're on Windows which will also lead you to:
$ git branch -m CaseSensitive casesensitive
fatal: A branch named 'casesensitive' already exists.
Then you have to do an intermediate step:
$ git branch -m temporary
$ git branch -m casesensitive
Nothing more.
Trying to answer specifically to the question (at least the title).
You can also rename local branch, but keeps tracking the old name on the remote.
git branch -m old_branch new_branch
git push --set-upstream origin new_branch:old_branch
Now, when you run git push, the remote old_branch ref is updated with your local new_branch.
You have to know and remember this configuration. But it can be useful if you don't have the choice for the remote branch name, but you don't like it (oh, I mean, you've got a very good reason not to like it !) and prefer a clearer name for your local branch.
Playing with the fetch configuration, you can even rename the local remote-reference. i.e, having a refs/remote/origin/new_branch ref pointer to the branch, that is in fact the old_branch on origin. However, I highly discourage this, for the safety of your mind.
Changing the branch locally is quite easy...
If you are on the branch you want to change the name for, simply do this:
git branch -m my_new_branch
Otherwise, if you are on master or any other branch other than the one you'd like to change the name, simply do:
git branch -m my_old_branch my_new_branch
Also, I create the image below to show this in action on a command line. In this case, you are on master branch, for example:
If you are willing to use SourceTree (which I strongly recommend), you can right click your branch and chose 'Rename'.
Another option is not to use the command line at all. Git GUI clients such as SourceTree take away much of the syntactical learning curve / pain that causes questions such as this one to be amongst the most viewed on Stack Overflow.
In SourceTree, right click on any local branch in the "Branches" pane on the left and select "Rename ...".
A simple way to do it:
git branch -m old_branch new_branch # Rename branch locally
git push origin :old_branch # Delete the old branch
git push --set-upstream origin new_branch # Push the new branch, set local branch to track the new remote
For more, see this.
Since you do not want to push the branch to a remote server, this example will be useful:
Let's say you have an existing branch called "my-hot-feature," and you want to rename it to "feature-15."
First, you want to change your local branch. This couldn't be easier:
git branch -m my-hot-feature feature-15
For more information, you can visit Locally and Remotely Renaming a Branch in Git.
Git version 2.9.2
If you want to change the name of the local branch you are on:
git branch -m new_name
If you want to change the name of a different branch:
git branch -m old_name new_name
If you want to change the name of a different branch to a name that already exists:
git branch -M old_name new_name_that_already_exists
Note: The last command is destructive and will rename your branch, but you will lose the old branch with that name and those commits because branch names must be unique.
Actually you have three steps because the local branch has a duplicate on the server so we have one step for local on two steps on the server:
git branch -m <old-branch-name> <new-branch-name>
git push <remote-name[origin by default]> :<old-branch-name>
git push -u <new-branch-name>
Git branch rename can be done by using:
git branch -m oldBranch newBranch
git branch -M oldBranch ExistingBranch
The difference between -m and -M:
-m: if you're trying to rename your branch with an existing branch name using -m. It will raise an error saying that the branch already exists. You need to give unique name.
But,
-M: this will help you to force rename with a given name, even it is exists. So an existing branch will overwrite entirely with it...
Here is a Git terminal example,
mohideen@dev:~/project/myapp/sunithamakeup$ git branch
master
master0
new_master
test
* test1
mohideen@dev:~/project/myapp/sunithamakeup$ git branch -m test1 test
fatal: A branch named 'test' already exists.
mohideen@dev:~/project/myapp/sunithamakeup$ git branch -M test1 test
mohideen@dev:~/project/myapp/sunithamakeup$ git branch
master
master0
new_master
* test
mohideen@dev:~/project/myapp/sunithamakeup$
Before we begin, make sure you’ve selected the branch you want to rename:
git checkout old-name
If you want to see all of your local branches, use the following command:
git branch --list
When you’re all clear, follow these steps:
Using the Git rename branch command will require you to add an -m option to your command:
git branch -m new-name
You can also rename a local branch from another branch by using the following two commands:
git checkout master
git branch -m old-name new-name
Lastly, this command will list all — both local and remote — branches to verify that it has been renamed:
git branch -a
Although it isn’t possible to rename a remote branch directly, the process of renaming one involves these three easy steps:
To start, you will need to rename a local branch by following the previous steps. 2.Then delete the old branch and push the new one. You can do this easily with the following commands:
git push origin --delete old-name
git push origin :old-name new-name
Reset the upstream branch for your new local branch and you will be all set:
git push origin -u new-name
All of the previous answers are talking about git branch -m. Of course, it's easy to operate, but for me, it may be a little hard to remember another Git command. So I tried to get the work done by the command I was familiar with. Yeah, you may guessed it.
I use git branch -b <new_branch_name>. And if you don't want to save the old branch now you can execute git branch -D <old_branch_name> to remove it.
I know it may be a little tedious, but it's easier to understand and remember. I hope it‘s helpful for you.
If you want to:
git branch -m <oldname> <newname>git push origin: old-name new-namegit commit <newname>
git push origin new_branch_name:mastergit statusgit checkout