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Update to the latest version of GitHub Desktop before February 2 to avoid disruptions. For more information, see the GitHub blog post.

Cloning a repository from GitHub to GitHub Desktop

You can use GitHub to clone remote repositories to GitHub Desktop.

Tip: You also can use GitHub Desktop to clone repositories that exist on GitHub. For more information, see "Cloning a repository from GitHub Desktop."

  1. Sign in to GitHub.com and GitHub Desktop before you start to clone.

  2. On GitHub.com, navigate to the main page of the repository.

  3. Above the list of files, click Code. "Code" button

  4. Click Open with GitHub Desktop to clone and open the repository with GitHub Desktop. "Open with GitHub Desktop" button

  5. Click Choose... and, using the Finder window, navigate to a local path where you want to clone the repository. The choose button on the URL tab

    Note: If the repository is configured to use LFS, you will be prompted to initialize Git LFS.

  6. Click Clone. The clone button on the URL tab

  1. Sign in to GitHub.com and GitHub Desktop before you start to clone.

  2. On GitHub.com, navigate to the main page of the repository.

  3. Above the list of files, click Code. "Code" button

  4. Click Open with GitHub Desktop to clone and open the repository with GitHub Desktop. "Open with GitHub Desktop" button

  5. Click Choose... and, using Windows Explorer, navigate to a local path where you want to clone the repository. The choose button

    Note: If the repository is configured to use LFS, you will be prompted to initialize Git LFS.

  6. Click Clone. The clone button