# Fork a repository
Fork a repository on GitHub to propose changes, collaborate on projects, and manage your own copy of the codebase.
## About forks
Forking a repository lets you propose changes to a project without affecting the upstream repository. See [About forks](/en/pull-requests/get-started/about-forks).
## Prerequisites
If you haven't already, set up Git and authentication with GitHub.com from Git. See [Set up Git](/en/get-started/git-basics/set-up-git).
## Forking a repository
You might fork a project to propose changes to the upstream repository. In this case, it's good practice to sync your fork with the upstream repository regularly. To do this, you'll need to use Git on the command line. You can practice setting the upstream repository using the same [octocat/Spoon-Knife](https://github.com/octocat/Spoon-Knife) repository you just forked.
1. On GitHub, navigate to the [octocat/Spoon-Knife](https://github.com/octocat/Spoon-Knife) repository.
2. In the top-right corner of the page, click **Fork**.
3. Under "Owner," select the dropdown menu and click an owner for the forked repository.
4. By default, forks are named the same as their upstream repositories. Optionally, in the "Repository name" field, type a different name to distinguish your fork.
5. Optionally, in the "Description" field, type a description of your fork.
6. Optionally, select **Copy the DEFAULT branch only**.
For many forking scenarios, such as contributing to open-source projects, you only need to copy the default branch. If you do not select this option, all branches will be copied into the new fork.
7. Click **Create fork**.
> \[!NOTE]
> If you want to copy additional branches from the upstream repository, you can do so from the **Branches** page. See [Managing branches within your repository](/en/pull-requests/how-tos/create-pull-requests/creating-and-deleting-branches-within-your-repository).
> \[!NOTE]
> To learn more about GitHub CLI, see [About GitHub CLI](/en/github-cli/github-cli/about-github-cli).
To create a fork of a repository, use the `gh repo fork` subcommand.
```shell
gh repo fork REPOSITORY
```
To create the fork in an organization, use the `--org` flag.
```shell
gh repo fork REPOSITORY --org "octo-org"
```
## Cloning your forked repository
You now have a fork of the Spoon-Knife repository, but you do not have the files from that repository on your computer.
> \[!NOTE]
> To learn more about GitHub CLI, see [About GitHub CLI](/en/github-cli/github-cli/about-github-cli).
To create a clone of your fork, use the `--clone` flag.
```shell
gh repo fork REPOSITORY --clone=true
```
## Configuring Git to sync your fork with the upstream repository
When you fork a project to propose changes to the upstream repository, you can configure Git to pull changes from the upstream repository into the local clone of your fork.
> \[!NOTE]
> To learn more about GitHub CLI, see [About GitHub CLI](/en/github-cli/github-cli/about-github-cli).
To configure a remote repository for the forked repository, use the `--remote` flag.
```shell
gh repo fork REPOSITORY --remote=true
```
To specify the remote repository's name, use the `--remote-name` flag.
```shell
gh repo fork REPOSITORY --remote-name "main-remote-repo"
```
### Editing a fork
You can make any changes to a fork, including:
* **Creating branches:** [*Branches*](/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-and-deleting-branches-within-your-repository) allow you to build new features or test out ideas without putting your main project at risk.
* **Opening pull requests:** If you want to contribute back to the upstream repository, you can submit a pull request to ask the original author to pull your fork into their repository. See [Creating a pull request from a fork](/en/pull-requests/how-tos/create-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-from-a-fork).
## Find another repository to fork
Fork a repository to start contributing to a project.
You can fork any public repository:
* To your personal account
* To an organization where you have permission to create repositories
If you have access to a private repository and the owner permits forking, you can fork the repository:
* To your personal account
* To an organization on GitHub Team where you have permission to create repositories
You cannot fork a private repository to an organization using GitHub Free. For more information about GitHub Team and GitHub Free, see [GitHub's plans](/en/get-started/learning-about-github/githubs-plans).
For more information about when you can fork a repository, see [Forks](/en/pull-requests/reference/forks).
You can browse [Explore GitHub](https://github.com/explore) to find projects and start contributing to open source repositories. See [Finding ways to contribute to open source on GitHub](/en/get-started/exploring-projects-on-github/finding-ways-to-contribute-to-open-source-on-github).
## Next steps
You have now forked a repository, practiced cloning your fork, and configured an upstream repository.
* For more information about using Git on the command line to clone and sync changes, see [Set up Git](/en/get-started/git-basics/set-up-git).
* You can also create a new repository to store your projects and share the code on GitHub. Creating a repository for your project allows you to store code in GitHub. This provides a backup of your work that you can choose to share with other developers. For more information, see [Quickstart for repositories](/en/repositories/creating-and-managing-repositories/quickstart-for-repositories).
* Each repository on GitHub is owned by a person or an organization. You can interact with the people, repositories, and organizations by connecting and following them on GitHub. For more information, see [Finding inspiration on GitHub](/en/get-started/start-your-journey/finding-inspiration-on-github).
* GitHub has a great support community where you can ask for help and talk to people from around the world. Join the conversation on [GitHub Community](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions).