Global and local

Learn the difference between global and local settings.

Global and local settings

You can define Git settings at different scopes. The --global flag applies the setting to all repositories on your computer, while --local applies only to the current repository.

git config --global user.name "Ali Kaya"
git config --local user.name "Ali (Work)"

Local settings always override global settings and take priority.

Location of configuration files

Global settings are stored in the ~/.gitconfig file in your user home directory. Local settings are stored in the .git/config file inside the project.

# Inside a repository, the local file is used
cat .git/config

If you set a configuration inside a repository without any flag, Git writes to the local file by default.

Exercise Set global name

Set the user.name setting to "Selin Tekin" globally across all repositories and then print it with git config --global user.name.

Show example solution

git config --global user.name "Selin Tekin"
git config --global user.name

Test yourself

What should be done to use an author name different from global settings in a specific project?
- The global setting must be deleted
- Git must be reinstalled
- The .git folder must be deleted
- Set name with --local in that repo
Show answer

Set name with --local in that repo — To configure a setting specific to a repository, use `--local` inside that repository; it overrides global settings.

Global user name

git config ____ user.name "Can Er"

Show answer

git config --global user.name "Can Er"

Scopes and files

--global

Affects all repositories
--local

Affects only that repository
.git/config

Local settings file
~/.gitconfig

Global settings file

Next lesson: Summary - Configuration

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