To add a new remote, use the git remote add command on the terminal, in the directory your repository is stored at.

The git remote add command takes two arguments:

  • A remote name, for example, origin
  • A remote URL, for example, https://[hostname]/user/repo.git

For example:

git remote add origin https://hostname/user/repo.git
# Set a new remote
git remote -v
# Verify new remote
origin  https://hostname/user/repo.git (fetch)
origin  https://hostname/user/repo.git (push)

Not sure which URL to use? Check out "Which remote URL should I use?"

Troubleshooting

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

Remote name already exists

This error means you've tried to add a remote with a name that already exists in your local repository:

git remote add origin https://hostname/octocat/Spoon-Knife
fatal: remote origin already exists.

To fix this, you can

Further reading