Use the git remote rename command to rename an existing remote.

The git remote rename command takes two arguments:

  • An existing remote name, for example, origin
  • A new name for the remote, for example, destination

Example

These examples assume you're cloning using HTTPS, which is recommended.

git remote -v
# View existing remotes
origin  https://hostname/OWNER/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
origin  https://hostname/OWNER/REPOSITORY.git (push)
git remote rename origin destination
# Change remote name from 'origin' to 'destination'
git remote -v
# Verify remote's new name
destination  https://hostname/OWNER/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
destination  https://hostname/OWNER/REPOSITORY.git (push)

Troubleshooting

You may encounter these errors when trying to rename a remote.

Could not rename config section 'remote.[old name]' to 'remote.[new name]'

This error means that the remote you tried the old remote name you typed doesn't exist.

You can check which remotes currently exist with the git remote -v command:

git remote -v
# View existing remotes
origin  https://hostname/OWNER/REPOSITORY.git (fetch)
origin  https://hostname/OWNER/REPOSITORY.git (push)

Remote [new name] already exists.

This error means that the remote name you want to use already exists. To solve this, either use a different remote name, or rename the original remote.

Further reading