Git Clone
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git clone <url> copies a remote repository - all its files, branches, and history - to your machine, and sets up origin pointing back at the remote so you can push and pull. It's how you start working on an existing project, as opposed to git init, which starts a brand-new empty repo.
Try these in the terminal playground - a real shell in your browser, nothing to install.
Syntax
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git clone <url> | Clone into a folder named after the repo |
git clone <url> myapp | Clone into a folder named myapp |
git clone -b dev <url> | Clone and check out the dev branch |
git clone --depth 1 <url> | Shallow clone (latest commit only) |
git clone --recurse-submodules <url> | Clone the repo and its submodules |
HTTPS vs SSH
| Protocol | URL form |
|---|---|
| HTTPS | https://github.com/user/repo.git |
| SSH | git@github.com:user/repo.git |
Git clone FAQ
What does git clone do?
It downloads a full copy of a remote repository - every file, branch, and commit - into a new local folder, and configures the remote as
origin. After cloning you can immediately work, commit, and push. Unlike git init, which creates an empty repo, clone brings an existing project with its history.How do I clone into a specific folder?
Add the folder name after the URL:
git clone <url> myfolder clones into myfolder instead of the repo's default name. The folder is created if it doesn't exist.How do I clone a specific branch?
Use
git clone -b <branch> <url> to clone and check out that branch. Add --single-branch to fetch only that branch's history rather than all branches - useful for large repos. See the git clone branch page for more.What is a shallow clone?
git clone --depth 1 <url> fetches only the most recent commit instead of the entire history, producing a much smaller, faster download. It's ideal for CI or when you only need the latest code. You can later fetch more history with git fetch --unshallow.Can I practice this online?
Yes. Open the terminal playground to run
git clone in a real shell in your browser - nothing to install. Coddy's free interactive Git course also covers getting a repository step by step.Related resources
More Git commands
