Command-line Git on Windows

Question

I have installed msysGit 1.7.10 on my Windows 7 machine. What I need to know is if I can still use Git from command line?

When I try the git command in the command line right now I see:

'git' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Is there any way I can enable the Git command line?

Answer 1

These instructions worked for a Windows 8 with a msysgit/TortoiseGit installation, but should be applicable for other types of git installations on Windows.

• Go to Control Panel\System and Security\System
• Click on Advanced System Settings on the left which opens System Properties.
• Click on the Advanced Tab
• Click on the Environment Variables button at the bottom of the dialog box.
• Edit the System Variable called PATH.
• Append these two paths to the list of existing paths already present in the system variable. The tricky part was two paths were required. These paths may vary for your PC. ;C:\msysgit\bin\;C:\msysgit\mingw\bin\
• Close the CMD prompt window if it is open already. CMD needs to restart to get the updated Path variable.
• Try typing git in the command line, you should see a list of the git commands scroll down the screen.

Answer 2

I had the same issue and resolved it by adding the /bin directory location to the PATH Environment Variable.

1. Search for the file location where Git was installed, mine is C:\Users\(My UserName)\AppData\Local\GitHub. It may also be C:\Program Files (x86)\Git

2. Once you have the location of Git you should see a /bin sub-folder. It may be in a PortableGit folder (mine is PortableGit_015aa71ef18c047ce8509ffb2f9e4bb0e3e73f13). Copy this path.

3. Go to Control Panel > System > System Protection > Advanced > Environment Variables

4. Choose PATH, click edit and paste the bin path there. If there are already any values in your PATH paste your Git path at the end separated with a semi-colon.

Now you can access Git command from CMD.