How to Rename A Branch In Git?

Published on Sep 20, 2025

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To rename a branch in Git, you can follow these steps:

Switch to the branch you want to rename by using the command git checkout old_branch.
Rename the branch with the command git branch -m new_branch.
If the branch is the current working branch, you may need to update the upstream branch reference as well. This can be done using the command git branch -u origin/new_branch.
If you have pushed the old branch to a remote repository, delete the old branch using the command git push origin --delete old_branch.
Push the renamed branch to the remote repository with the command git push origin new_branch.
Update the local repository with the latest changes from the renamed branch using the command git fetch --all.
Update the local tracking branch with the command git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/new_branch new_branch.

By following these steps, you can successfully rename a branch in Git.

After renaming a branch in Git, you can update remote tracking branches using the following steps:

Rename the branch locally using the git branch -m command. For example, if you renamed the branch feature/old-branch to feature/new-branch, you would run git branch -m feature/old-branch feature/new-branch.
Push the renamed branch to the remote repository using the git push origin command. In our example, the command would be git push origin feature/new-branch.
Delete the old remote tracking branch using the git push origin --delete command. In our example, the command would be git push origin --delete feature/old-branch.
Fetch the latest changes from the remote repository using the git fetch command. This will update your local repository with the changes made on the remote repository.

With these steps, your remote tracking branches will be updated after renaming a branch in Git.

To rename multiple branches simultaneously in Git, you can use the git branch command in combination with xargs. Here are the steps:

Open your command line or terminal.
Navigate to the repository where the branches exist.
Run the following command to fetch the updated branch names from the remote repository: git fetch
List all the branches using the following command: git branch -a This command will display both local and remote branches.
Identify the branches you want to rename. Note down their current names.
Generate a list of commands to rename each branch using the following command: git branch -m Replace with the current name of the branch, and with the desired new name for the branch. Repeat this command for each branch you want to rename. For example, to rename the branch "feature1" to "new-feature1" and "feature2" to "new-feature2", you would run: git branch -m feature1 new-feature1 git branch -m feature2 new-feature2
Copy all the generated commands.
Run the following command to rename the branches simultaneously: echo | xargs -n 2 sh -c 'git branch -m $1 $2' sh Replace with the commands you copied in the previous step. For example, if you copied the commands git branch -m feature1 new-feature1 and git branch -m feature2 new-feature2, you would run: echo "git branch -m feature1 new-feature1 git branch -m feature2 new-feature2" | xargs -n 2 sh -c 'git branch -m $1 $2' sh
After executing the command, Git will rename the specified branches simultaneously.

Please note that renaming branches will affect all collaborators of the repository, and they will need to update their local branches accordingly.

To revert a branch name change in Git, you can use the following steps:

Open the terminal or command prompt.
Navigate to your Git repository using the cd command.
Use the git reflog command to view the recent branch changes and locate the commit where the branch name change occurred.
Copy the commit hash or reference of the commit before the branch name change.
Use the git branch -m command to rename the branch back to its original name. Replace with the old branch name and with the new branch name. For example: git branch -m feature-branch new-feature-branch.
Use the git reflog command again to confirm that the branch name change has been reverted, and the branch has the original name again.

After completing these steps, the branch name change should be successfully reverted, and the branch should have its original name.