How to Install Git on Windows

The Git logo on a generic Windowsy background.

Git is an indispensable tool if you want to program. This allows you to conveniently manage different code versions in one repository (repo). Git is also the most common way to access GitHub, one of the largest code repositories in the world. Here are some ways to install Git on Windows.

Download the Windows executable

The easiest way to get Git is to download the executable from the Git website.

Click 64-bit Git for Windows Setup to start the download, then wait a moment — the download is only about 50 megabytes, so it shouldn’t take very long.

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Double-click the executable you just downloaded, then click Next to navigate through the installation prompts. There are a lot of options during the installation process – don’t worry too much about most of them. The default options are fine, but there are two to watch out for.

The first is the text editor that Git uses. The default choice is Vim. Vim is ubiquitous and a trademark of command-line interfaces everywhere, but learning to use its idiosyncratic commands can be daunting. You should probably select something else instead, e.g. B. Visual Studio Code, Sublime, NotePad++ or any other simple text editor you like.

Just click the drop-down menu and then select the new program from the list.

Tip: Try Visual Studio Code if you don’t know which one to choose.

The second is the way Git integrates into your PC’s PATH. Make sure “Git From The Command Line And Also From 3rd-Party Software” is selected.

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Make sure you select the option that adds Git to your system PATH.

Click through the remaining options and wait for everything to download. The time it takes to download everything depends on what you chose to install. The default selection results in a download that is approximately 270 megabytes in size.

Use Winget to download Git

You can also use Winget to download Git if you’re a fan of command line interfaces.

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Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal with a PowerShell tab, and then paste or type:

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

A few download bars appear in the terminal window while Winget pulls whatever it needs.

Winget pulls files from GitHub.

As the last part of the installation process, a normal Windows installation window appears.

The last part of the installation process.

You can get started after the window closes. You will notice that Git has been added to the PATH. All programs that require installation – like Stable Diffusion – now work correctly.

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