About successors
We recommend inviting another GitHub user to be your successor, to manage your user owned repositories if you cannot. As a successor, they will have permission to:
- Archive your public repositories.
- Transfer your public repositories to their own user owned account.
- Transfer your public repositories to an organization where they can create repositories.
Successors cannot log into your account.
An appointed successor can manage your public repositories after presenting a death certificate then waiting for 7 days or presenting an obituary then waiting for 21 days. For more information, see GitHub Deceased User Policy.
To request access to manage repositories as a successor, please contact us through the GitHub Support portal.
Inviting a successor
The person you invite to be your successor must have a GitHub account.
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In the upper-right corner of any page on GitHub, click your profile photo, then click Settings.
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In the left sidebar, click Account.
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Under "Successor settings", to invite a successor, begin typing a username, full name, or email address, then click their name when it appears.
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Click Add successor.
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If prompted, confirm access to your account on GitHub. For more information, see Sudo mode.
The user you've invited will be listed as "Pending" until they agree to become your successor.