How to rename git branches
There might be situations when you want to change your git branch
name to something more meaningful or more relative your current context
a couple of cases are below:
- Rename branch in git local, when you haven’t pushed it to remote
# renaming the branch when you are currently on the branch
git branch -m new-branch-name
# renaming the branch when you are on a different branch
git branch -m branch-to-be-renamed new-branch-name
- Rename branch in git local and remote, when you have pushed it to remote
for this case, we need to follow the step 1 after step 1 we need to delete
the old branch from remote and the final step set the upstream (read about branching) to the new branch.
# renaming the branch when you are currently on the branch
git branch -m new-branch-name
OR
# renaming the branch when you are on a different branch
git branch -m branch-to-be-renamed new-branch-name
# delete the old branch from remote
git push origin: branch-to-be-renamed
# here: is necessary before the old branch name (:branch-to-be-renamed)
# set your upstream to a new branch
git push --set-upstream origin new-branch-name