How To Remove Credentials From Git?

Managing credentials securely is important for maintaining the security of your projects and systems. Sometimes, you might need to remove credentials from Git to prevent unauthorized access or to switch to different credentials. This guide will walk you through the various methods to remove credentials from Git on different operating systems and environments.

Approach 1: Removing Credentials from Git on Local Machine

1. Using Git Credential Helper

Git uses credential helpers to manage authentication. You can remove stored credentials by clearing the cache or removing specific credentials.

Step 1: Clear the Entire Credential Cache

To clear all stored credentials, use the following command:

git credential-cache exit

This command clears all cached credentials from the credential helper.

Step 2: Remove Specific Credentials

To remove specific credentials, you can manually edit the credential file. The location of this file depends on your operating system:

Windows: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.git-credentials
macOS/Linux: ~/.git-credentials

Open the file in a text editor and remove the line containing the credentials you want to delete.

2. Using the Git Configuration File

Credentials can also be stored in the Git configuration file. To remove them, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Git configuration file located at

~/.gitconfig or C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.gitconfig.

Step 2: Look for sections that contain credential information.

[credential]
    helper = store
[user]
    name = yourusername
    email = [email protected]

Remove or comment out the lines with the credentials.

3. Using Credential Manager for Windows (GCM)

If you're using Git Credential Manager for Windows, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Control Panel.

Step 2: Navigate to User Accounts > Credential Manager.

Step 3: Under Windows Credentials, locate the Git-related credentials.

Step 4: Click on the credentials and select Remove.

Approach 2: Removing Credentials from Remote Repositories

Sometimes, credentials might be embedded in the repository URL. You can update or remove these credentials by editing the remote URL.

Step 1: Update Remote URL

To update the remote URL without embedded credentials, use the following command:

git remote set-url origin https://yournewurl.com/repo.git

Step 2: Remove Remote URL Credentials

If your remote URL contains embedded credentials, it might look like this:

https://username:[email protected]/repo.git

Update it to remove the credentials:

git remote set-url origin https://yourrepo.com/repo.git

Approach 3: Using Environment Variables

Credentials can also be set using environment variables. To unset these variables, use the following commands based on your operating system:

For Windows

setx GIT_USERNAME ""
setx GIT_PASSWORD ""

For macOS/Linux

unset GIT_USERNAME
unset GIT_PASSWORD

Approach 4: Using SSH Keys Instead of Passwords

To avoid storing passwords altogether, consider using SSH keys for authentication. Follow these steps to configure SSH keys:

Step 1: Generate an SSH Key Pair

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"

Step 2: Add the SSH Key to Your SSH Agent:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Step 3: Add the SSH Key to Your GitHub/GitLab Account:

Copy the contents of your public key (~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) and add it to your GitHub/GitLab account under Settings > SSH and GPG keys.

Step 4: Update the Remote URL to Use SSH:

git remote set-url origin [email protected]:username/repo.git