How to Install Git on Windows

In this article, we will see how to install Git (the distributed version control system) on Windows Operating System.

There are over 15 steps that need to be followed to get Git for Windows (Git Bash) installed and a student who is about to start learning git may feel a bit lost, so I have tried to put down each step and walk-through what option you can select while the installation,

Steps to install Git on Windows

1. First, you need to download the Git Setup from Official Git Website: https://git-scm.com/ and click on the Monitor link that says "Latest Source Release"
   
   Step 1 - Download Git Setup for Windows

   The current version I have downloaded is 2.29.2, you can also check the release notes to see what's new,

   Git v2.29.2 Release Notes
   =========================
   This release is primarily to fix brown-paper-bag breakages in the
   2.29.0 release.
   
   Fixes since v2.29.1
   -------------------
    * In 2.29, "--committer-date-is-author-date" option of "rebase" and
      "am" subcommands lost the e-mail address by mistake, which has been
      corrected.

⛏️ If you are looking for an older and specific version release of git then you can get them from GitHub: https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases, you can find 32-bit, 64-bit, Portable Git as well as the source code here.

2. Now once you have download the setup, double-click on the exe file: Git-2.29.2.2-64-bit.exe,
3. You would see a screen that says,

   User Account Control
   Do you want this allow this app to make changes to your devices?

   Click on yes!

4. Now you should see the setup window:GNU General Public License, read it and click Next,
5. Selet the Components that you want to be installed or ignored, you can keep it the default - but if you want to keep Git up-to-date you can check "Check daily for Git for Windows updates" option. Click Next,
6. Here, Choose the default text editor for Git - you can choose from various options like Nano, Vim, Notepad++, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Sublime Text, Atom or select some other by browsing, I choose Notepad++, Click Next,

Git Setup - GNU General Public Licence window.
7. Adjusting the name of the initial Branch in new repositories:

   If you go a git init as we know the default branch that's created is master, if you wish to change that to something like main, trunk, development, or any custom name you can select Override the default branch. Click Next,


Git Setup - Adjusting the name of the initial Branch in new repositories.
8. Adjust your Path Environment:

   Here you will get three options,

   • Use Git from Git Bash Only: If you select this the PATH environment variable will not be changed and you can only use the Git command using the Git Bash tool.
   • Git from Command Line and 3-party Softwares: This is recommended. This will let the git command run from CMD and Powershell as well as 3-party tools.
   • Use Git from optional Unix tools from the Command Prompt: This is not recommended as it messes with Windows CMD commands like find and sort, click Next.

Git Setup - Adjust your path Environment.
9. Choosing HTTPS transport backend: I kept this as default, Next,

Git Setup - Choosing HTTPS transport backend.PNG
10. Configure the line ending conversions:

    As a developer, you must be aware that most EOL Encoding issues - CRLF, CR, or LF that arise while working with cross-platforms. Writing code on Windows/macOS, deploying on Unix. So choose the option according to your use-case or leave it to default, Next,


Git Setup - Configure the line ending conversions.
11. Choose the Terminal emulator to use with Git Bash: You can keep it default, Next

Git Setup - Choose the Terminal emulator to use with Git Bash.
12. Choose the default behavior of git pull: Choose the default option, Next

Git Setup - Choose the default behavior of git pull.
13. Choose a credential helper: Choose the Git Credential Manager Core, Note Git Credential Manager is deprecated, Next,

Git Setup - Choose a credential helper.
14. Configure Extra Options: You can keep this one as default as well "Enable file system Caching", Next,

Git Setup - Configure Extra Options.
15. Configuring experimental options: This is a new feature, you can enable it if you do Node or Python development. Click Finish

Git Setup - Configuring experimental options.

How to test Git after installation:

Type Git Bash in Windows search and open it, try the below commands,

$ git --version
git version 2.21.0.windows.1

$ mkdir my_git_repo

$ git init
Initialized empty Git repository in C:/Users/c2c/.git/

c2c@LAPTOP-XXXX MINGW64 ~ (master)