Changing a remote's URL

In this article

• Switching remote URLs from SSH to HTTPS
• Switching remote URLs from HTTPS to SSH
• Troubleshooting
• Further reading

The git remote set-url command takes two arguments:

• An existing remote name. For example, origin or upstream are two common choices.

• A new URL for the remote. For example:

  • If you're updating to use HTTPS, your URL might look like:

    https://[hostname]/USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git

  • If you're updating to use SSH, your URL might look like:

    git@hostname:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git

Switching remote URLs from SSH to HTTPS

1. Open TerminalTerminalGit Bash.

2. Change the current working directory to your local project.

3. List your existing remotes in order to get the name of the remote you want to change.

   $ git remote -v
   > origin  git@hostname:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
   > origin  git@hostname:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (push)

4. Change your remote's URL from SSH to HTTPS with the git remote set-url command.

   $ git remote set-url origin https://hostname/USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git

5. Verify that the remote URL has changed.

   $ git remote -v
   # Verify new remote URL
   > origin  https://hostname/USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
   > origin  https://hostname/USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (push)

The next time you git fetch, git pull, or git push to the remote repository, you'll be asked for your GitHub username and password.

• If you have two-factor authentication enabled, you must create a personal access token to use instead of your GitHub password.
• You can use a credential helper so Git will remember your GitHub username and password every time it talks to GitHub.

Switching remote URLs from HTTPS to SSH

1. Open TerminalTerminalGit Bash.

2. Change the current working directory to your local project.

3. List your existing remotes in order to get the name of the remote you want to change.

   $ git remote -v
   > origin  https://hostname/USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
   > origin  https://hostname/USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (push)

4. Change your remote's URL from HTTPS to SSH with the git remote set-url command.

   $ git remote set-url origin git@hostname:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git

5. Verify that the remote URL has changed.

   $ git remote -v
   # Verify new remote URL
   > origin  git@hostname:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
   > origin  git@hostname:USERNAME/REPOSITORY.git (push)

Troubleshooting

You may encounter these errors when trying to change a remote.

No such remote '[name]'

This error means that the remote you tried to change doesn't exist:

$ git remote set-url sofake https://hostname/octocat/Spoon-Knife
> fatal: No such remote 'sofake'

Check that you've correctly typed the remote name.

Further reading

• "Working with Remotes" from the Pro Git book