Maintaining a secure and organized GitHub repository means managing who has access to contribute. Whether a team member has moved on or you’re restructuring roles, it’s important to know how to remove contributors from your GitHub repository properly.
This guide walks you through the process step-by-step.
🔐 Who Can Remove Contributors?
To remove a contributor, you must have:
- Admin permissions on the repository or
- Be an owner of the organization (for org-owned repos)
If you only have read/write access, you won’t be able to manage collaborators.
👣 Steps to Remove a Contributor from a GitHub Repository
🖥 Step 1: Go to the Repository on GitHub
- Navigate to your repository on github.com.
- Click the “Settings” tab (you must be an admin to see this).
👥 Step 2: Open the Collaborators & Teams Section
- In the sidebar, click “Collaborators and teams” (or “Manage access” on personal repositories).
- You’ll see a list of people and teams with access.
❌ Step 3: Remove the Contributor
- Locate the user you want to remove.
- Click the “X” or “Remove” button next to their name.
- Confirm the removal when prompted.
Once removed, they’ll no longer have access to push code, open pull requests, or manage issues (unless the repository is public).
🧠 Important Notes
- Removing a contributor does not delete their previous commits—they remain credited in the history.
- If the repo is public, anyone can still fork or view the code unless you change the visibility.
- If you’re using a GitHub Organization, access might also come from Teams. Make sure to remove the user from any relevant Teams if necessary.
🛡️ Best Practices for Managing Access
- Use Teams for role-based access (in organizations)
- Review repository access regularly
- Set up branch protection rules to control who can push to important branches
- Enable 2FA for collaborators (via organization settings)
📌 Summary
| Action | Location |
|---|---|
| Go to repository | GitHub > Your Repo |
| Open settings | Settings > Manage Access |
| Remove a user | Click “Remove” next to their name |
| Confirm removal | GitHub will ask for confirmation |
🧠 Final Thoughts
Controlling who contributes to your repository is essential for security, code quality, and effective collaboration. GitHub makes it easy to manage collaborators with just a few clicks. Always ensure that only the right people have access to your project.
