How to fork a project on GitHub?

 
Step 1: Sign in to GitHub or create an account
 

• Open your web browser and go to https://github.com.
• If you already have an account, click Sign in in the top-right corner and enter your credentials.
• If you don’t have an account, click Sign up, then follow the on-screen instructions to register.

 
Step 2: Find the repository you want to fork
 

• Use the search bar at the top of the page to search for the project name or owner.
• Click on the repository name in the search results to open its main page.

 
Step 3: Fork the repository into your account
 

• On the repository’s main page, locate the Fork button in the top-right corner.
• Click Fork. GitHub will copy the repository into your personal account.
• Once the process completes, you’ll be redirected to your newly created fork under https://github.com/your-username/repo-name.

 
Step 4: Clone the fork to your local machine
 

• On your fork’s GitHub page, click the green Code button.
• Copy the repository URL (HTTPS or SSH).
• Open a terminal or command prompt on your computer and run:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/repo-name.git

• Change into the project directory:

cd repo-name

 
Step 5: Add the original repository as an upstream remote
 

• This lets you pull in upstream changes from the original repo.
• Run:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/original-owner/repo-name.git

• Verify the new remote:

git remote -v

 
Step 6: Create a new branch for your changes
 

• Always work on a feature or fix in its own branch. For example:

git checkout -b feature/my-improvement

 
Step 7: Make your changes locally and commit
 

• Edit, add, or delete files in your code editor.
• Stage your changes:

git add .

• Commit with a descriptive message:

git commit -m "Add feature X and fix bug Y"

 
Step 8: Push your branch to your GitHub fork
 

git push origin feature/my-improvement

 
Step 9: Open a pull request against the original repository
 

• Go to your fork on GitHub and switch to the feature/my-improvement branch.
• Click the green Compare & pull request button.
• Fill in a title and description for your PR, then click Create pull request.

 
Step 10: Keep your fork up to date
 

• Fetch upstream changes regularly:

git checkout main
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main

• Rebase or merge as needed into feature branches to avoid conflicts.