How to install and use Git Desktop in Windows
Posted on April 18th, 2022
Git and Github are two different words. Git is a version control system used to track changes during software development. In simple words, it’s a virtual and distributed version control system. Using Git, we can easily coordinate with all the programmers during development without worrying about code loss. While GitHub is a web-based repository hosting service. Github allows you to manage your git repositories on their SaaS panel built to manage git repositories.
It provides you the Web based user interface to manage your code and repositories. However, Git also allows you to download and install the desktop version of Github. So, If you are a github user and want to manage git repositories from a desktop app, rather than the Web app, You are at the right place at the right time. Continue following this tutorial.
GitHub Desktop
GitHub is a simple software that we can install on windows. Then you can directly create and share the repository from the computer. As we discussed, GitHub is a web-based repository hosting service provider. It has a beautiful and easy-to-use user interface. Microsoft currently maintains GitHub while Linux maintains git. GitHub is focused on centralised source code hosting and has built-in user management features. So, we can share all the codes based on user permissions and authentication. The desktop version of GitHub is called GitHub Desktop. And it was launched in 2008.
So, let’s learn how we can download and install GitHub on a Windows computer. We will also learn all the steps to connect your repository using GitHub.
Download
Step 1: Open any internet browser and go to “https://desktop.github.com/” or search for GitHub Download, then press Enter.
Step 2:Then Click on the first link available as GitHub Desktop | Simple Collaboration from your desktop, as you can see in the below image.
Step 3: That link will redirect you to the Official download page for GitHub. Now, you can see a big purple button on the centre of the screen called Download for Windows(64 bit), as shown in the image below. Click on the button to start the download.
Here, You just successfully downloaded GitHub for Windows. Now, let’s learn how we can install GitHub on Windows.
Install
Step 1: To install GitHub, go to the folder that contains the GitHub Desktop .exe file. Select the file and press enter, or you can Double-click on the file to run the setup file. You can also right-click on the file and click on Open to execute the file, as you can see below.
Step 2: The GitHub will take some moments to install. Then it will automatically launch, and you will have a screen just like the image below. It’s the startup interface of GitHub Desktop.
So, we just successfully installed the GitHub Desktop in windows. Now, let’s discuss how we can use it to create or clone different repositories online.
Use
Step 1: Open the GitHub. Press the Windows key and search for GitHub, and press enter.
Step 2: Firstly, we will discuss how we can add your existing repository or connect to your GitHub account. So, you can easily clone all the existing repositories from the internet. So, go to the File menu and click on options, as you can see in the below image.
Step 3: Here, you will see a new popup box with several options like Accounts, integrations, Git, and Appearance. Click on accounts, and you have two more options for Signing in. The first is GitHub.com, and the Second is GitHub Enterprise, as you can see in the image below. Now, click on GitHub.com. You can also sign in with enterprise if you have an Enterprise account.
Step 4: Then Click on the button called Continue with browser. It will allow you to log in through a browser. Once You click on the button, you will automatically redirect to the GitHub website. Just log in to your GitHub account, and the GitHub Desktop will automatically catch the information and link your account with the GitHub desktop.
Step 5: You just successfully connected your account to the GitHub Desktop. You will have your account information on the page. You can remove the account from the sign-out button now. Click on the Close button, as you can see in the image below.
Step 6: Create a new repository: Now, on the startup page, you have some options like create a tutorial repository, clone a repository from the internet, and create a repository on the drive. You have your existing repository list of recent uses on the other side. To create a new repository, click on the 3rd button called Create aNew Repository on your hard drive.
Step 7: As you click on the New Repository button, you will have a form with some primary fields, just like the image below. Fill in all the required details and click on the Create Repository button, as you can see in the image below. Your repository is created successfully.
Step 8: How to clone a repository from the internet: To clone a repository from the internet, click on the second option as Clone repository from the internet, as you can see in the below image.
Step 9: On the next page, you have three options GitHub.com, GitHub Enterprise, and b. Select the option as per your requirement. You will have all the existing repositories listed as per the connected accounts. You can also use URL and credentials to clone the other repository.
Step 10: Now, click on the Choose button, and select the location where you want to clone the repository on the computer, as you can see in the image below.
Step 11: Click on the Clone button.
Congratulations, you just successfully learned how we can GitHub Desktop and create or clone the repositories.
Conclusion
So, in this article, we just discussed Git and GitHub Desktop for Windows. We also discussed the steps to download and install GitHub on a windows machine. Then, we learned how we could connect to our existing GitHub account and clone our existing repository. We also learn how to create a new repository and clone a repository from a URL. We hope this tutorial was helpful for you. If you have any questions regarding Github desktop, please feel free to let us know in the comment section. We will be happy to help you!
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