How To Change Your Git Remote Repo For Pushing Projects

When you “push a project” with Git, you’re sending your code to a remote repository – usually on a service like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. Changing the repo for pushing means telling Git, “From now on, send my changes there instead.”

This is controlled by something called a remote URL. You don’t need to re‑create your project or re‑initialize Git; you just update this setting.

Below is a clear walkthrough of how this works, what can vary based on your setup, and how different situations change the steps.

What Does It Mean To Change the Repo You Push To?

In Git terms, “change repo for pushing” usually means at least one of these:

• Switch the URL of the existing remote (for example, you renamed a repo or moved from HTTPS to SSH).
• Point the repo to a completely different remote repository (for example, moving from GitHub to GitLab).
• Add a new remote and use that instead of the old one (for example, keeping origin but adding a backup remote).

The key concept is the remote:

• A remote is a nickname (like origin or upstream) for a repository URL.
• Each remote has one or more URLs that Git uses to fetch and push.

You see them with:

git remote -v 

This lists lines like:

origin [email protected]:username/project.git (fetch) origin [email protected]:username/project.git (push) 

Changing “the repo for pushing” usually means changing that URL or which remote you push to.

Common Ways To Change the Remote Repo

Here are the most typical scenarios, using simple Git commands.

1. Change the URL of the existing remote (most common)

Use this if:

• You renamed the repo on GitHub/GitLab.
• You switched from HTTPS to SSH (or the other way around).
• The repo moved to another host, but you want to keep the same remote name, usually origin.

Command:

git remote set-url origin NEW_REPO_URL 

Example:

git remote set-url origin [email protected]:newuser/new-project.git 

Then confirm:

git remote -v 

You should now see the new URL for origin.

2. Add a new remote and push there instead

Use this if:

• You want to push the same project to two places (e.g., GitHub and a self-hosted Git server).
• You’re migrating gradually and keeping the old one for a while.

Commands:

git remote add backup NEW_REPO_URL git push backup main 

Here:

• backup is the new remote name.
• main is the branch you’re pushing; it might be master or something else in your project.

You can still use:

git push origin main 

if you want to push to the old remote as well.

3. Remove the old remote and keep only the new one

Use this if:

• You no longer want any connection to the old repo.
• The old host is going away or the repo has been deleted.

Steps:

1. Add the new remote (if you haven’t already):

   git remote add origin NEW_REPO_URL 

   Or if origin already exists, just change its URL:

   git remote set-url origin NEW_REPO_URL 

2. Optionally remove the old remote (if it’s a separate name like old-origin):

   git remote remove old-origin 

From then on, your regular push command:

git push origin main 

will go to the new repository.

4. Push to a one-time destination without changing remotes

Sometimes you just want to push somewhere once without changing your configured remotes.

You can do that directly:

git push NEW_REPO_URL main 

This bypasses remote names like origin entirely. Git won’t store this as a remote; it just uses the URL for that one command.

Key Variables That Change How You Should Do It

The exact steps can feel slightly different depending on a few factors.

1. HTTPS vs SSH remote URLs

Git remotes usually use one of two styles:

If you:

• Switch from HTTPS to SSH, you often run git remote set-url origin ... with the SSH-style URL.
• Switch hosts (e.g., GitHub to GitLab), the URLs change format, but Git commands stay the same.

What changes for you is mostly authentication (SSH keys vs web login or tokens), not the Git remote commands.

2. Default branch name (main, master, or something else)

When you run:

git push origin main 

you’re specifying the branch. Projects may use:

• main
• master
• A custom name like develop or trunk

To see your current branch:

git branch 

A * marks the active one.

The branch name determines what you type after the remote name:

git push origin CURRENT_BRANCH_NAME 

If your remote’s default branch has a different name than your local one, you might need to set up tracking:

git push -u origin my-branch 

Then later, you can just run:

git push 

and Git remembers where to push.

3. Forks, upstream remotes, and multi-remote setups

You might see setups with two common remotes:

• origin – your fork (your personal copy you can push to).
• upstream – the original project (often read-only for you).

In these cases:

• You usually push to origin:

  git push origin main 

• You usually fetch/pull from upstream:

  git fetch upstream git merge upstream/main 

Changing “where you push” might mean:

• Switching origin to a new fork.
• Adding another fork as a remote.
• Being careful not to push to an upstream you don’t control.

4. Bare vs non-bare repos on the server

On self-hosted systems, the destination repository may be:

• Bare (no working directory, just Git data) – typically used as a central server repo.
• Non-bare (has a working directory) – usually a local checkout on someone’s machine.

For most hosted services (GitHub, GitLab), your remote repos are bare, and everything “just works.”

On self-hosted setups, pushing to a non-bare repo can be dangerous or blocked unless configured carefully. In that case, “changing repo for pushing” might also mean:

• Creating a proper bare repo on the server.
• Updating the remote URL to point to that instead.

5. Permissions and access level on the new repo

Even if you set the remote URL correctly, pushes can still fail because of:

• Read-only access (you can clone but not push).
• Wrong credentials or expired tokens.
• SSH keys not configured for the new host.

You’ll see errors like:

• remote: Permission denied
• fatal: Could not read from remote repository

In terms of Git commands, nothing changes; what’s different is how the new hosting platform handles authentication and permissions.

Different User Profiles, Different Workflows

Changing a Git remote is conceptually simple, but in practice it looks different depending on who you are and how you work.

Scenario 1: Solo developer moving a personal project

• Likely has a single remote, origin.

• Default branch might be main.

• Steps are usually:

  git remote set-url origin NEW_REPO_URL git push -u origin main 

• Might also need to update stored credentials or SSH keys for the new host.

Scenario 2: Team project moving to a new hosting platform

• Multiple collaborators, multiple branches.

• CI/CD, webhooks, and integrations may depend on the remote.

• Beyond changing the origin URL, the team may:

  • Coordinate a cutover time.
  • Set up new permissions and branches on the new platform.
  • Update deployment pipelines and build servers.

Here, changing the remote URL is just one part of the migration.

Scenario 3: Open-source contributor working with forks

• Uses origin for their own fork, upstream for the main project.

• Might add additional remotes (e.g., another fork) for collaboration.

• Often runs commands like:

  git remote add upstream https://github.com/mainorg/project.git git remote set-url origin [email protected]:myuser/project.git 

“Changing repo for pushing” here often means ensuring you’re still pushing to the fork you control, not the upstream project.

Scenario 4: Beginner using GUI tools (VS Code, GitKraken, etc.)

• May never type git remote in the terminal.

• Remote URLs are changed via settings panels or “Manage Remotes” dialogs.

• Under the hood, these tools still run commands like:

  git remote set-url origin NEW_REPO_URL 

The core Git concepts are the same; only the interface changes.

Where Your Own Setup Becomes the Missing Piece

The commands to change where you push your project are fairly universal:

• View remotes: git remote -v
• Change URL: git remote set-url origin NEW_REPO_URL
• Add remote: git remote add NAME URL
• Push to a specific remote and branch: git push REMOTE_NAME BRANCH_NAME

What differs from one person to another are the details that hang off those commands:

• Which host you’re using (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted).
• Whether your URLs are HTTPS or SSH.
• What your default branch is called.
• Whether you need multiple remotes (origin, upstream, backup, etc.).
• How your permissions and credentials are set up.
• Whether you’re in a personal project, a corporate repo with strict rules, or an open-source ecosystem with forks and upstreams.

Understanding the building blocks lets you see how it all fits, but the exact “right” way to change your pushing repo depends on how your own workspace, team, and hosting platform are configured.