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Authenticating to GitHub in GitHub Desktop

You can securely access your account's resources on GitHub Desktop by authenticating to GitHub.

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About authentication

To keep your account secure, you must authenticate before you can use GitHub Desktop to access resources on GitHub.

Before you authenticate, debes tener una cuenta en GitHub.com. Para más información, consulta "Registrar una nueva cuenta GitHub"."

Authenticating an account on GitHub

  1. En la barra de menús, seleccione GitHub Desktop y, a continuación, haga clic en Preferencias.

    Captura de pantalla de la barra de menús en un equipo Mac. En el menú desplegable "Escritorio de GitHub", el cursor mantiene el puntero sobre "Preferencias", que se resalta en azul.

  2. In the "Preferences" window, on the Accounts pane, click the Sign In button next to "GitHub.com".

    Screenshot of the "Accounts" pane in the "Preferences" window. Next to "GitHub.com", a button, labeled "Sign In", is outlined in orange.

  3. En la ventana modal "Iniciar sesión con el navegador", haz clic en Continuar con el navegador. GitHub Desktop abrirá tu buscador predeterminado.

  4. Para autenticarse en GitHub, escribe tus credenciales de GitHub.com en el navegador y haz clic en Iniciar sesión.

    Como alternativa, si ya hubieras iniciado sesión en GitHub, sigue los mensajes para regresar a GitHub Desktop y así completar la autenticación.

  5. Si has configurado la autenticación de dos factores (2FA) para GitHub, realiza una de las siguientes acciones:

    • Si configuras 2FA por medio de SMS, recupera tu código 2FA de un mensaje SMS.
    • Si configuras 2FA con una aplicación TOTP, genera un código 2FA.

    Después, escriba el código de 2FA en el mensaje de GitHub y haga clic en Verificar.

  6. After GitHub authenticates your account, follow the prompts to return to GitHub Desktop.

Authenticating an account on GitHub Enterprise Server

  1. En la barra de menús, seleccione GitHub Desktop y, a continuación, haga clic en Preferencias.

    Captura de pantalla de la barra de menús en un equipo Mac. En el menú desplegable "Escritorio de GitHub", el cursor mantiene el puntero sobre "Preferencias", que se resalta en azul.

  2. In the "Preferences" window, on the Accounts pane, click the Sign In button next to "GitHub Enterprise".

    Screenshot of the "Accounts" pane in the "Preferences" window. Next to "GitHub Enterprise", a button, labeled "Sign In", is outlined in orange.

  3. To add an account on tu instancia de GitHub Enterprise Server, in the "Sign in" modal window, type the URL for your instance under "Enterprise address," then click Continue.

  4. En la ventana modal "Iniciar sesión con el navegador", haz clic en Continuar con el navegador. GitHub Desktop abrirá tu buscador predeterminado.

  5. To authenticate to tu instancia de GitHub Enterprise Server account, type your account credentials and click Sign in.

    Alternatively, if you were already signed in to tu instancia de GitHub Enterprise Server account, follow the prompts to return to GitHub Desktop to finish authenticating.

Authenticating an account on GitHub

  1. Use el menú Archivo y haga clic en Opciones.

    Captura de pantalla de la barra de menús "Escritorio de GitHub" en un equipo Windows. En el menú desplegable "Archivo" expandido, el elemento "Opciones" se resalta con un contorno naranja.

  2. In the "Options" window, on the Accounts pane, click the Sign In button next to "GitHub.com".

    Screenshot of the "Accounts" pane in the "Options" window. Next to "GitHub.com", a button, labeled "Sign In", is outlined in orange.

  3. En la ventana modal "Iniciar sesión con el navegador", haz clic en Continuar con el navegador. GitHub Desktop abrirá tu buscador predeterminado.

    Advertencia: En GitHub no se admite la autenticación mediante el nombre de usuario y la contraseña. En vez de esto, se requiere que te autentiques utilizando tu buscador.

  4. Para autenticarse en GitHub, escribe tus credenciales de GitHub.com en el navegador y haz clic en Iniciar sesión.

    Como alternativa, si ya hubieras iniciado sesión en GitHub, sigue los mensajes para regresar a GitHub Desktop y así completar la autenticación.

  5. Si has configurado la autenticación de dos factores (2FA) para GitHub, realiza una de las siguientes acciones:

    • Si configuras 2FA por medio de SMS, recupera tu código 2FA de un mensaje SMS.
    • Si configuras 2FA con una aplicación TOTP, genera un código 2FA.

    Después, escriba el código de 2FA en el mensaje de GitHub y haga clic en Verificar.

  6. After GitHub authenticates your account, follow the prompts to return to GitHub Desktop.

Authenticating an account on GitHub Enterprise

  1. Use el menú Archivo y haga clic en Opciones.

    Captura de pantalla de la barra de menús "Escritorio de GitHub" en un equipo Windows. En el menú desplegable "Archivo" expandido, el elemento "Opciones" se resalta con un contorno naranja.

  2. In the "Options" window, on the Accounts pane, click the Sign In button next to "GitHub Enterprise".

    Screenshot of the "Accounts" pane in the "Options" window. Next to "GitHub Enterprise", a button, labeled "Sign In", is outlined in orange.

  3. To add a GitHub Enterprise account, type your credentials under "Enterprise address," then click Continue.

  4. Si ha configurado la autenticación en dos fases para GitHub Enterprise, siga estos pasos:

    • Si configuras 2FA por medio de SMS, recupera tu código 2FA de un mensaje SMS.
    • Si configuras 2FA con una aplicación TOTP, genera un código 2FA.

Troubleshooting authentication issues

If GitHub Desktop encounters an authentication error, you can use error messages to troubleshoot.

If you encounter an authentication error, first try signing out and signing back in to your account on GitHub Desktop.

For some errors, GitHub Desktop will prompt you with an error message. If you are not prompted, or to find more information about any error, view the GitHub Desktop log files by using the following steps.

  1. In the menu bar, select Help, then click Show Logs in Finder.

    Screenshot of the "GitHub Desktop" menu bar on a Mac. Under the expanded "Help" dropdown menu, a cursor hovers over "Show Logs in Finder", highlighted in blue.

  2. Select the log file from the date when you encountered the authentication error.

  1. Use the Help drop-down menu and click Show Logs in Explorer.

    Screenshot of the "GitHub Desktop" menu bar on Windows. In the expanded "Help" dropdown menu, an option labeled "Show Logs in Explorer" is outlined in orange.

  2. Select the log file from the date when you encountered the authentication error.

Review the troubleshooting information below for the error message that you encounter.

Bad credentials

Error: Bad credentials

This error means that there is an issue with your stored account credentials.

To troubleshoot, sign out of your account on GitHub Desktop and then sign back in.

Empty token

info: [ui] [AppStore.withAuthenticatingUser] account found for repository: node - USERNAME (empty token)

This error means that GitHub Desktop is unable to find the access token that it created in the system keychain.

To troubleshoot, sign out of your account on GitHub Desktop and then sign back in.

Repository not found

fatal: repository 'https://github.com/<user>/<repo>.git' not found

(The error was parsed as 8: The repository does not seem to exist anymore. You may not have access, or it may have been deleted or renamed.)

This error means that you do not have permission to access the repository that you are trying to clone.

To troubleshoot, contact the person in your organization who administers permissions.

Could not read from remote repository

git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights and the repository exists.

This error means that you do not have a valid SSH key set up.

To troubleshoot, see "Generación de una nueva clave SSH y adición al agente SSH."

Failed to clone

fatal: clone of 'git@github.com:<user>/<repo>' into submodule path '<path>' failed
Failed to clone 'src/github.com/<user>/<repo>'. Retry scheduled
Cloning into '<path>'...
git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

This error means that either the repository that you are trying to clone has submodules that you do not have access to or you do not have a valid SSH key set up.

If you do not have access to the submodules, troubleshoot by contacting the person who administers permissions for the repository.

If you do not have a valid SSH key set up, see "Generación de una nueva clave SSH y adición al agente SSH."

Unable to read AskPass response

error: unable to read askpass response from '/Users/<path>/GitHub Desktop.app/Contents/Resources/app/static/ask-pass-trampoline.sh'
fatal: could not read Username for 'https://github.com': terminal prompts disabled

This error can be caused by multiple events.

If the Command Processor registry entries are modified, GitHub Desktop will respond with an Authentication failed error. To check if these registry entries have been modified, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the following locations. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor\
  2. Check to see if there is an Autorun value in either location.
  3. If there is an Autorun value, delete it.

If your Windows username has extended Unicode characters, it may cause an AskPass response error. To troubleshoot, create a new Windows user account and migrate your files to that account. For more information, see "Create a user account in Windows" in the Microsoft documentation.

Further reading