How to upgrade Git on Windows to the latest version

Windows Problem Overview

I just upgraded to Git 1.8.0.1 for Windows, from my previous version 1.7.9.mysysgit.0. I downloaded the new version from the Git site and installed through the normal Git installer EXE.

That said, when I fire up my terminal window, it still is showing that I am running Git version 1.7.9.mysysgit.0. When I type git --version from my prompt, the same thing.

I found this article on a similar issue with Git on Mac OS X, which leads me to believe that it has something to do with a faulty PATH, but I'm still pretty new at all this (five months self-taught), so I'm at a loss in how to translate this to Windows.

This problem arose when I began a new Ruby on Rails project and tried to push it up to Git. I added the remote:

git remote add origin git@github.com:brianscottk/blog.git

then:

git push -u origin master

I received the following error message:

> fatal: https://github.com refs not found: did you run git update-server-info on the server?

Googling that error led me to this article, which prompted me to upgrade, and here I am.

Windows Solutions

Solution 1 - Windows

Since Git 2.16.1(2) you can use

C:\> git update-git-for-windows

In version between 2.14.2 and 2.16.1, the command was

C:\> git update

(It was later renamed to avoid confusion with updating the local repository, e.g. like svn update does it.)

That command does not exist in Git 2.13 and before.

If this errors with "is not a git command" then either you don't actually have Git for Windows, or your version is very old.

In which case, simply get the latest installer from https://git-scm.com/download (check whether you want 32- or 64-bit) and run it to upgrade.

If you already have the latest version it does nothing, in which case you can manually run the installer to reinstall.

C:\> git update-git-for-windows
Git for Windows 2.17.0.windows.1 (64bit)
Up to date

Solution 2 - Windows

First, check your Git version by using this command

git version

Then follow the case according to your Git version

Three cases:

If your Git version is 2.14.1 or earlier:

Uninstall Git, download the latest Git, and install it again.
And versions between 2.14.2 and 2.16.1:

Use command git update
If the version is equal to or greater than Git 2.16.1(2):

Use command git update-git-for-windows

Solution 3 - Windows

Git Bash

Note, if you are instead looking to find out what version of Git Bash you are running, or want to see if you need to update Git Bash, it is part of Git for Windows.

So your Git Bash version is:

git --version

> git version 2.23.0.windows.1

Note that it is technically different from Bash. On my same machine when I run:

echo $BASH_VERSION

>4.4.23(1)-release

Git for Windows installer

To update to the latest version of Git and Git Bash, you can download and install the latest version of Git for Windows. As per this FAQ, settings/customizations should be preserved if they were installed in the appropriate configuration folders.

Note: Their installer is actually intelligently designed to do the right thing (though it doesn't tell you upfront that it defaults to your prior settings automatically!).
If you are doing an update, then every screen on the installer is pre-marked with the settings from your current (soon to be previous) install.

It is not showing you generic default settings. You do not need to look any of them up, or fear for breaking your carefully honed setup. Just leave everything as is, to retain your previous choices.

In fact, they made it even easier (if only it was clear that they did so).

There is a checkbox at the bottom [] Show only new settings (I don't remember the exact wording). Since nothing on the first screen changes when you mark the box, it is not exactly obvious what it is for. If you mark the box, then all of your current settings will be retained, and it will skip showing those (subsequent) settings screens to you. Only screens with newly introduced settings will be shown.

`git update-git-for-windows`

Alternatively, as others have noted, you can also update Git Bash and Git (by definition, both are always updated at the same time) from the Git Bash command line, via:

git update-git-for-windows

If you type git update, Git kindly reminds you that the command has been updated to git update-git-for-windows:

> Warning! git update has been deprecated;
Please use git update-git-for-windows instead.
Git for Windows 2.26.0.windows.1 (64bit)
Up to date

Solution 4 - Windows

Just give the following command with your command prompt.

git update-git-for-windows

This will ask you a confirmation as follows. Press Y to proceed.

Once the files are downloaded, continue with the normal installation procedures. You can check the Git version after finishing installation with the following command:

git version

For me, the result was as follows.

Solution 5 - Windows

Update (26 September 2016): It is no longer needed to uninstall your previous version of Git to upgraded it to the latest; the installer package found at Git Windows download site takes care of all. Just follow the prompts.

For additional information, follow instructions at installing and upgrading Git.

Solution 6 - Windows

If you just type

git update-git-for-windows

If you are having issues with it, run Bash as administrator or add the 'git.exe' path to the "allowed apps through controlled folder access".

Solution 7 - Windows

Check version: git --version
If your Git version is 2.27.0.windows.1 or earlier
If the version is equal to or greater than Git 2.27.0.windows.1
Use command git update-git-for-windows

If you want to see a video tutorial click here.

Solution 8 - Windows

Just run:

git update-git-for-windows

Solution 9 - Windows

If you have already installed Git, you can update Git with the command

git update-git-for-windows

to know the current version, use:

git --version

You can run these commands in the cmd prompt.

Solution 10 - Windows

Using the command "where git" find out how command prompt picks up the version. Once you have the path, you can go ahead and uninstall / delete previous version completely. Then if you install and make sure the new installed location is in the path, it should just work fine.

Using git-friendly tools like cmder will make your life much easier. You don't really have to use dual boot or cygwin anymore since the support for git in windows is already top-notch now. (Git for windows installs msysgit which includes all necessary unix tools from MinGW. MinGW has been there for a while and is pretty stable. If you want you can install the full version of msysgit rather than Git for Windows. msysgit is available on Git for windows page at the bottom.)

Solution 11 - Windows

You can use,

git update

Or if you are on a Windows machine, you can run the command below,

git update-git-for-windows

Solution 12 - Windows

PS Z:\MERN-STACK-ECOMMERCE-PROJECT> git --version
git version 2.31.0.windows.1

PS Z:\MERN-STACK-ECOMMERCE-PROJECT> git update-git-for-windows
Git for Windows 2.31.0.windows.1 (64bit)
Update 2.33.1.windows.1 is available
Download and install Git for Windows 2.33.1 [N/y]? y
############################################################################################################ 100.0%-
############################################################################################################ 100.0% 

PS Z:\MERN-STACK-ECOMMERCE-PROJECT> git --version
git version 2.33.1.windows.1
PS Z:\MERN-STACK-ECOMMERCE-PROJECT>

Solution 13 - Windows

Based on Simon's answer, I first uninstalled the new version of Git. I then re-installed the new version of Git into the same directory as the old version, C:/RailsInstaller/Git, instead of the default directory C:/Git.

Now my Ruby on Rails terminal window shows that I am running the new Git version 1.8.0.

Solution 14 - Windows

To check out your PATH variable, act as follows:

From the Desktop, right-click My Computer and click Properties.
Click the Advanced System Settings link in the left column.
In the System Properties window click the Environment Variables button.

Once there, scroll to get the Path row. You'll get a long string of paths (e.g., C:\windows\bin;C:\program files\git, etc.).

Find the line or lines where git is referenced. Then, make sure this path point to your Git 1.8.x installation. If not, delete it and add the real path to the newest Git version. At the end, you should only have one path in the string linking to Git.

Solution 15 - Windows

If you look at the most recent update on Git's website in the "git via git" section you will see an option to update your older version.

Here is the command that git has on their site:

git clone https://github.com/git/git

It worked for my version of git which was a 2.13.0.windows.1.

Solution 16 - Windows

I don't think your problem is related to Windows' global PATH environment variable, as remote is specific to repositories.

I recommend you to use Git under Cygwin. Git could work under Windows command line, but there may be some weird problems hard to figure out. Under Cygwin it's more nature and has fewer errors.

All you need is to type bash in Window CMD, and then start to use the Unix tools and commands. You can use a shortcut to load bash; it's as easy as use normal Windows CMD.

The same is true for Ruby on Rails and Ruby. I used RailsInstaller before, but I found using Cygwin to install Rails is more stable.

Finally, I'll suggest to install Ubuntu dual boot if you have time (about a month to get familiar with it). Windows is not very friendly to every Unix tools ultimately. You'll find all pain stopped.

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	BrianScottK	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Windows	Dutch Glory	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Windows	Arslan Ahmad khan	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Windows	SherylHohman	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Windows	Basil	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Windows	David	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Windows	ailia	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Windows	Azmat Ali	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Windows	moriarty007	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 9 - Windows	Rohan Devaki	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 10 - Windows	Rajan Ponnappan	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 11 - Windows	Jaied	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 12 - Windows	Nirajan Mahara	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 13 - Windows	BrianScottK	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 14 - Windows	Simon Boudrias	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 15 - Windows	Nate	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 16 - Windows	Billy Chan	View Answer on Stackoverflow