How to make a GitHub repository private?

 
Step 1: Logging into your GitHub account
 

Before you can change any repository settings, you need to be signed in.

• Open your preferred web browser.
• Navigate to https://github.com.
• Click the Sign in button in the top-right corner.
• Enter your username or email address and your password, then click Sign in.

 
Step 2: Navigating to your repositories
 

Once signed in, you’ll need to locate the repository you want to modify.

• Click on your profile avatar in the top-right corner.
• Select Your repositories from the dropdown menu.
• You’ll see a list of all repositories you own or contribute to.

 
Step 3: Selecting the repository to make private
 

Choose the exact repository whose visibility you wish to change.

• Scroll through the list and click the name of the repository.
• You will be taken to that repository’s main page.

 
Step 4: Opening the repository settings
 

The repository settings menu contains the visibility controls.

• On the repository page, locate the menu bar below the repository name.
• Click the Settings tab (usually at the far right).

 
Step 5: Scrolling down to the visibility controls
 

The visibility options are located in the “Danger Zone.”

• Scroll down to the bottom of the Settings page until you see the Danger Zone section.
• Locate the Change repository visibility subsection.

 
Step 6: Changing the repository to private
 

You can now initiate the change from public to private.

• Click the Change visibility button.
• In the modal dialog that appears, select Make private.
• GitHub will ask you to confirm by typing the repository name.
• Type the full repository name exactly as shown (e.g., username/repository-name).
• Click the I understand, change repository visibility button.

 
Step 7: Verifying the repository is now private
 

After confirmation, you should see that the repository is private.

• You will be redirected back to the main repository page.
• Look next to the repository name—you should now see a Private label instead of Public.

 
Step 8: (Optional) Using GitHub CLI to make a repository private
 

If you prefer the command line and have GitHub CLI installed, you can change visibility without using the web UI.

• Make sure you have GitHub CLI installed and are authenticated (gh auth login).
• Navigate in your terminal to any directory (the repo doesn’t need to be cloned locally to change its visibility).

gh repo edit OWNER/REPO --visibility private

• Replace OWNER/REPO with your username or organization and repository name (for example octocat/hello-world).
• Press Enter; GitHub CLI will change the repository’s visibility to private.

 
Step 9: Confirming visibility change via GitHub CLI
 

You can double-check the new visibility status directly from the CLI.

gh repo view OWNER/REPO --json visibility

• If the output shows "visibility": "PRIVATE", the repository is now private.