Changing the Git remote 'push to' default

Question

You can use git push -u <remote_name> <local_branch_name> to set the default upstream. See the documentation for git push for more details.

To change which upstream remote is "wired" to your branch, use the git branch command with the upstream configuration flag.

Ensure the remote exists first:

git remote -vv

Set the preferred remote for the current (checked out) branch:

git branch --set-upstream-to <remote-name>

Validate the branch is setup with the correct upstream remote:

git branch -vv

Working with Git 2.3.2 ...

git branch --set-upstream-to myfork/master

Now status, push and pull are pointed to myfork remote

You can easily change default remote for branches all at once simply using this command

git push -u <remote_name> --all

If you did git push origin -u localBranchName:remoteBranchName and on sequentially git push commands, you get errors that then origin doesn't exist, then follow these steps:

1. git remote -v

Check if there is any remote that I don't care. Delete them with git remote remove 'name'

2. git config --edit

Look for possible signs of a old/non-existent remote. Look for pushdefault:

[remote]
  pushdefault = oldremote

Update oldremote value and save.

git push should work now.

It might be helpful to take a look at .git/config inside your repo, it will list all remotes and also the default remote for each branch

eg.

[core]
    repositoryformatversion = 0
    filemode = true
    bare = false
    logallrefupdates = true
[remote "origin"]
    url = [email protected]:fii/web2016.git
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
[branch "master"]
    remote = origin
    merge = refs/heads/master
[branch "bugfix/#8302"]
    remote = origin
    merge = "refs/heads/bugfix/#8302"
[branch "feature/#8331"]
    remote = origin
    merge = "refs/heads/feature/#8331"
[remote "scm"]
    url = https://scm.xxx.be/git/web2016bs.git
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/scm/*

you can make manual changes in this file to remove an unwanted remote, or update the default remotes for the different branches you have

• Pay attention! when changing or removing the remotes make sure to update all references to it in this config file