How to Create an Empty Git Repository (Locally & Remotely)

Whether you’re starting a new project or setting up version control for existing code, creating an empty Git repository is your first step in using Git effectively.

In this guide, we’ll walk through:

Creating an empty local Git repository
Creating an empty remote GitHub repository
Connecting the two

Table of Contents

🧰 1. Create an Empty Git Repository Locally

Step 1: Open Terminal or Git Bash

Navigate to the folder where you want the repository:

cd path/to/your-project

Step 2: Initialize the Repository

git init

This creates an empty .git/ directory in your folder, which tracks all changes.

✅ You now have an empty local Git repository.

🌐 2. Create an Empty Repository on GitHub

Go to GitHub
Click “New repository”
Enter a repository name
DO NOT select “Add README”, “Add .gitignore”, or a license — this keeps the repo truly empty
Click Create repository

GitHub will now show you setup instructions with a remote URL like:

https://github.com/yourusername/your-repo.git

🔗 3. Connect Local Repository to Remote (Optional)

If you want to push to GitHub, link your local repo:

git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/your-repo.git

If your branch is named main:

git push -u origin main

Or if it’s master:

git push -u origin master

You may need to create a first commit before pushing:
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

📌 Summary

Task	Command / Action
Initialize local repo	`git init`
Create GitHub repo	Use GitHub web UI (no README, no gitignore)
Add remote URL	`git remote add origin <remote-url>`
First commit (optional)	`git add . && git commit -m "Initial commit"`
Push to GitHub	`git push -u origin main`

🧠 Final Tips

Use .gitignore to exclude unnecessary files
Use git status to track changes at any time
A repo with no commits is considered completely empty — even git push won’t work until you commit at least once