Git Bash: Getting Started with Git on Windows

Git Bash is a terminal emulator for Windows that bundles Git with a Bash shell and a set of Unix utilities (ls, grep, ssh, curl, and more), giving Windows users the same Git command-line experience as macOS and Linux developers. It is distributed as part of the Git for Windows package and can be downloaded from git-scm.com; the installer adds Git Bash as an option in the Windows right-click context menu. Git Bash supports tab completion for Git commands, branch names, and file paths out of the box, and includes an SSH client so you can authenticate with GitHub and GitLab over SSH. All standard Git commands work identically in Git Bash, making guides and tutorials written for Unix terminals directly applicable on Windows. Alternatives include Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) for a full Linux environment, PowerShell with the posh-git module for shell completion, or a GUI client like Tower that eliminates the need for a terminal altogether.

Git Bash: How to Get Started with Git on Windows

Git Bash is a terminal emulator for Windows that bundles Git with a Bash shell and Unix utilities like ls, grep, and ssh - giving Windows users the same command-line experience macOS and Linux developers already have. It ships as part of the Git for Windows installer.

That's the command-line route. If you'd rather skip the terminal altogether, a GUI client like Tower gives you the same Git operations through a visual interface - see How to Use Git in a Desktop GUI below.

The Git Cheat Sheet

No need to remember all those commands and parameters: get our popular "Git Cheat Sheet" - for free!

What is Git Bash?

Git Bash, quite simply, is an application for Microsoft Windows that emulates the "original" Git version control system as it was built for Unix-style environments.

The name indicates that "Git Bash" will provide a user with two main components:
(1) Git - The collection of command line programs that makes up the Git version control system.
(2) Bash - The name of a popular default shell on macOS and Linux.

This means that the Git Bash package not only installs Git, but also the Bash shell and some important utilities for Bash.

How to Install Git Bash

Today, installing Git Bash has become very easy:

Download the Git for Windows package from the project's website.
Install the program like any other Windows application, through the included .exe file.

While the process is fairly straightforward, if you're looking for a step-by-step explanation on how to install Git Bash, have a look at our blog post on installing Git Bash.

After installing Git Bash on a Windows computer, users have the same set of Git commands available as in Git's native environment (a Unix-style system like Linux or macOS).

How to Use Git in a Desktop GUI

Instead of installing Git Bash and using Git through a command line terminal, you can also use it through a desktop GUI. The Tower Git client, for example, is used by over 100,000 developers all over the world, in companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Shopify.

Learning Version Control with Git

With Git installed (through the Git Bash package) on your Windows computer, you can now start actually using Git in your projects. To help you learn the big topic of "Version Control with Git", here are some free & helpful tutorials and guides:

Learn Git Online Book: A beginner-friendly online book with lots of sketches & screenshots. It starts by explaining the basic concepts and then takes you through practical use cases with Git.
Learn Git Video Course: A 24-episode, step-by-step video series. Each lesson covers just a single topic and has an average duration of only 5 minutes.

Get our popular Git Cheat Sheet for free!

You'll find the most important commands on the front and helpful best practice tips on the back. Over 100,000 developers have downloaded it to make Git a little bit easier.

About Us

As the makers of Tower, the best Git client for Mac and Windows, we help over 100,000 users in companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Twitter, and Ebay get the most out of Git.

Just like with Tower, our mission with this platform is to help people become better professionals.

That's why we provide our guides, videos, and cheat sheets (about version control with Git and lots of other topics) for free.