Step-By-Step Guide To Install Git on Windows

More and more developers are switching to SaaS-based version control platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bit Bucket as distributed version control solutions displace centralized systems like Subversion and CVS. These are all Git-based platforms, thus naturally, in order to work with them, developers must first locally install Git on Windows or Linux machines.

Here, you will learn how to install Git on Windows in this Git tutorial. Next, you must know to utilize the five fundamental Git commands that every developer should be familiar with to check if the DVCS tool was correctly installed.

Steps to Install Git on Windows

The steps to install Git on Windows are as follows:

1. Get the Git file executable from git-scm.com/downloads.
2. Execute the installation file as an administrator.
3. Select a suitable installation directory, such as C: tools git.
4. Set up the pre-installed components, such as Git GUI Here and Git Bash Here.
5. Decide which default Git editor you prefer. We advise using Notepad++.
6. Permit Windows PATH to be expanded to include Git
7. To ensure compatibility between Unix and Windows, accept the default line ending conversion.
8. Select the additional option to turn on system caching.
9. To finish the installation, click Finish.
10. Decide to launch a Git Bash shell and begin working with Git!

Testing To Check Validity of Git Installation

By using the five fundamental Git commands that every developer should be familiar with, you can verify the validity of your Windows Git installation.

These are the standard Git commands:

1. init
2. add
3. config
4. status
5. commit

Create a new folder called repos off the C: drive before running Git init:

windows@install-git MINGW64 /c/repos
$ git init
Initialized empty Git repository in C:/repos/.git/

Create a new folder and place a file called windows-git-install.txt inside of it.

windows@install-git MINGW64 /c/repos
$ touch windows-git-install.txt

Then add the file to the Git index:

windows@install-git MINGW64 /c/repos
$ git add .

Configure the Git user’s email address and username:

windows@install-git MINGW64 /c/repos
$ git config --global user.name "Cameron McKenzie"
windows@install-git MINGW64 /c/repos
$ git config --global user.email "mail@example.com"

Commit the new file to the new Git repository:

windows@install-git MINGW64 /c/repos
$ git commit -m "New Windows git install commit"
[master (root-commit) 5b8f1f4] New Windows git install commit
1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 windows-git-install.txt

And finally, check the status of the newly installed Git repo:

windows@install-git MINGW64 /c/repos
$ git status
On branch master
nothing to commit, working tree clean

The process of installing Git on Windows is now complete. Make that the DVCS tool is set up correctly to manage source code and communicate with SaaS-based platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and BitBucket.im

Final Words

If you are new to Git, you might find installing it quite intimidating. So, you will need expert guidance, but if you are not available to contact any, this step-by-step guide on how to install Git on Windows will definitely help you.