How to Check if Git is Installed on Your System

Git is the most widely used version control system in software development today. Before you can clone repositories, manage branches, or commit code, you need to make sure Git is installed on your system.

In this quick guide, you’ll learn how to check if Git is installed—and what to do if it’s not.

Table of Contents

✅ Step 1: Open Your Command-Line Interface

Depending on your operating system:

Windows: Open Command Prompt or PowerShell
macOS: Open Terminal
Linux: Open your system’s Terminal

🧪 Step 2: Run the Git Version Command

In the terminal or command prompt, type the following command:

git --version

✅ If Git is installed:

You’ll see the installed version of Git, like this:

git version 2.43.0

This confirms Git is installed and working correctly on your system.

❌ If Git is not installed:

You’ll see an error like:

'git' is not recognized as an internal or external command (Windows)
command not found: git (macOS/Linux)

🧭 Step 3: What to Do If Git Is Not Installed

If Git is not installed, follow these steps based on your operating system:

💻 Windows

Download Git for Windows from the official site:
👉 https://git-scm.com/download/win
Run the installer and follow the setup instructions.
After installation, restart your terminal and run git --version again to confirm.

🍏 macOS

Use Homebrew (recommended): brew install git
Or install Xcode Command Line Tools (includes Git): xcode-select --install

🐧 Linux

For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git

For Fedora:

sudo dnf install git

For Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S git

🧠 Tip: Set Up Git After Installation

After installing Git, it’s good practice to set your global username and email:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "yo*@ex*****.com"

You can verify your configuration with:

git config --list

📌 Summary

Task	Command
Check if Git is installed	`git --version`
Install Git (Windows)	git-scm.com
Install Git (macOS)	`brew install git` or `xcode-select --install`
Install Git (Linux)	`sudo apt install git` (or relevant package manager)