Solving the "Remote Origin Already Exists" Error: A Guide to Changing, Removing, and Renaming Git Remotes

Are you tired of encountering the dreaded “Remote Origin Already Exists” error when trying to push your code to GitHub? Fear not, for we have the solution to your problem!

First, let’s take a look at what causes this error. Essentially, it occurs when you try to set a new remote origin for a repository that already has one. So, how do we fix it?

Method 1: Change the remote URL

The easiest way to fix this error is to simply change the remote URL to something different. You can do this using the following command:

git remote set-url origin [NEW URL]

For example, if your new URL is “https://github.com/newusername/newrepo.git", you would run the following command

git remote set-url origin https://github.com/newusername/newrepo.git

Method 2: Remove the existing remote origin

If you don’t want to keep the existing remote origin, you can remove it with the following command:

git remote remove origin

Then, you can set a new remote origin with the following command:

git remote add origin [NEW URL]

For example, if your new URL is “https://github.com/newusername/newrepo.git", you would run the following command:

git remote add origin https://github.com/newusername/newrepo.git

Method 3: Rename the existing remote origin

If you want to keep the existing remote origin but just want to give it a different name, you can use the following comman

git remote rename origin [NEW NAME]

For example, if you want to rename the remote origin to “upstream”, you would run the following command:

git remote rename origin upstream

And just like that, you’ve solved the “Remote Origin Already Exists” error! Now, you can push your code to GitHub without a problem. Just remember to always double check your remote origin before pushing to avoid this error in the future.

Happy coding!