2 Ways to install Git on Windows 11 or 10 – CLI & GUI

Learn the methods to install Git on Windows 11 or 10 using the command line and graphical user interface for the version control system.

GIT is a free version control software that allows you to split your project data into individual snippets. This makes it possible to work in a team and you can find your extensions or adjustments more easily.

It is an open-source tool that was developed for a Linux kernel project but later used by most of the developers. The key benefit is it allows multiple developers to work on the same project by having a local working copy of the complete repository. Further, the git allows track changes made to the code, lets developers undo them if something goes wrong, and also makes the code available for others. In addition to the local working copies of the developers, there are also remote repositories. The changes from your own repository can be made public via Git by “pushing” them to a remote repository. Because every developer has a copy of the complete project data, Git is a distributed version control system.

Using a “GIT server” (even if it is actually none) you have the following advantages:

• Working in a team
• Backup of the code
• Track changes
• Restore changes
• More performant than folder structures
• Clear if you work with it a little longer
• Fast and memory-saving
• Deploy project directly

Steps to install GIT on Windows 11 or 10

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

There are two easy ways to install the GIT on Microsoft operating systems. One is using the command terminal and the other with the help of a regular graphical user interface. Here we show you both.

#1st way: Install using the command line

1. Open Windows Terminal

Right-click on the Windows 11 Start Menu and select Terminal (Admin). This will open the Windows Terminal app to access PowerShell or CMD. However, Windows 10 users will have PowerShell (Admin) option instead the Terminal one.

2. Check Winget Command line

In the next step, we will run the Winget command to check it’s available on the system. It is a Microsoft Package manager to install applications easily on Windows 11 or 10 operating systems using the command line.

Note: Windows 11 will have it by default, however, old Windows 10 users may need to install it manually. Project GitHub link.

winget

3. Install Git using command on Windows 11 or 10

Well, as we apprised that Winget is a Windows Package Manager Client, hence let users easily install the GIT on our system. It just takes one command only. No need to visit any website and download some setup.

winget install Git.Git

Once the installation is completed, you can check the version of the installed Git, using the given command:

git --version

Note: If you get the following error, close your command terminal and open it again then check the version.

git : The term 'git' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the
spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1

#2nd method using GUI

4: Download GIT

Well, in this method we need to manually visit the Git website to download the setup and move further for the installation process. Visit the official Git website and download the 64-bit version.

5. Install Git on Windows 11 or 10

Once you have downloaded the setup, double-click and execute it to start the installation process. The first window will show you the license details, simply click the Next button.

Note: We will take you through the important steps (settings) of the installation, the rest you can leave to default, and can complete the installation process by clicking on the NEXT button on the Wizard.

6. Select Destination

Next, select the folder where you want to install Git. Here you can install it in some other drive or location if you want. However, it is recommended to leave it as default and just click the Next button.

7. Select components & Editor

Although all the essential components needed by Git are already selected, if you want to create a Desktop icon, Add a Git Bash profile to Windows Terminal, or let Git check daily updates then that can be selected here in this section. If you are not sure about all this, don’t worry, simply move forward and click on the Next button.

Soon, the installer wizard of Git will ask you to choose the default Editor, by default VIM will be selected but you can choose the one you prefer from its drop-down list. Here we are selecting the default Notepad of Windows.

8. Default Terminal

Git Bash by default will use MinTTY as a terminal emulator, which works great. However, for a more native feel, you can use the Windows Terminal. It’s all on you, what you prefer.

Followed the wizard further and complete the installation while leaving the settings as default.

Once the installation is completed, close and open your terminal again. Now you can access the Git command tool to check its version, type:

git --version

9. Update Git

In future, if you want to install the the update version of the Git then open the command terminal and just type the given commnad and it update the Git. It is applicable for both CLI and GUI installations.

git update-git-for-windows

10. Launch Git in Windows

Once you have this open source Version control system on your PC, to use it, we can use the our command prompt, Git Bash or Git GUI.

For Git Bash

Those who want to use the default bash of Git, go to start menu and there search for Git bash as it appears, click to run the same. This will give you the command line access.

For Git GUI

Another way is to use the graphical user interface get installed automatically on your PC wiht the main installation. To access, on start menu run Git GUI.

11. Clone the remote Github repository

Let’s use the PowerShell to clone the remote repository.

git clone remote-repository-url

12. Add GitHub account

To push your project to GitHub, we first need to set our account details.

For that, on your terminal or command prompt use the given commands. Repalce the username and email address with you GitHub credentials.

git config --global user.name "github_username"

git config --global user.email "email_address"

First of all create a folder where you want to clone the remote Github repository.

Create a directory

mkdir test

Switch to the folder

cd test

Intialize the Git

Now, intialize the git in the swtiched folder

git init

Add your files:

Let’s say you want to add some project files, for example create a text file.

notepad test.txt

Add the content and save the file.

Check the status, wether the Git knows about our added file or not.

git status

You can see Git is aware of file but has not been added to GitHub repository. For that we have to stage, commint push it.

Stage the file, it means you are preparing the file to commit

git add test.txt

If you have mutiple files and want add all of them, use:

git add --all

Commit keeps tracks of our progress and changes. Git consider it as a “save point”

git commint -m "my project"

13. Uninstall Git from Windows 11 or 10

There would be a time when you don’t require the Git installation on your Windows 10 or 11 any more, at that time use command terminal and run the following command.

winget uninstall Git.Git

Alternatively, we can use the Windows Control panel to remove this software. Go to Start menu and type control panel, as its icon appears click to open it. Under the Control panel, click on “Uninstall a Program” -> select Git and hit the Uninstall button.

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