Switching Between Repositories in GitHub Desktop 🔄

Working on multiple projects? Here’s how to quickly switch between repositories in GitHub Desktop.

How to Switch?

Method 1: Current Repository menu

1. Click on Current Repository (top left)
2. You’ll see a list of all repositories
3. Click the one you need
4. ✅ Done!

Method 2: Keyboard shortcut

• Windows/Linux: Ctrl+T
• macOS: Cmd+T

Opens a quick repository picker.

Method 3: Via File menu

1. File → Recent Repositories
2. Choose from the list

Repository List Structure

Filter / Search

At the top there’s a search field:

🔍 Search repositories...

Start typing a name — the list will narrow down.

Groups

Repositories are divided into groups:

1. Pinned
- Your favorite projects
- Pin with the star ⭐

2. Active
- Repositories you recently worked with

3. Other
- All other projects

Buttons at the bottom

• Add ➕ — add a new repository
• Create New — create a new one
• Clone — clone from GitHub

Pinning a Repository

To keep important projects at the top:

1. Open the list (Current Repository)
2. Find the repository you want
3. Click the star ⭐ on the right
4. The repository moves to Pinned

Click again to unpin.

Quickly Adding a Repository

Clone from GitHub

1. Click Current Repository
2. At the bottom: Clone Repository
3. GitHub.com tab
4. Select from your repository list
5. Clone

Add Local

1. Current Repository
2. Add → Add Existing Repository
3. Select the folder
4. Add Repository

Create New

1. Current Repository
2. Add → Create New Repository
3. Fill in the fields
4. Create Repository

Working with Multiple Projects

Typical workflow:

1. Morning: open work-project (work)
2. Lunch: switch to personal-blog (personal)
3. Evening: back to work-project

All with 2 clicks!

Update notifications

In the list you can see the status of each repository:

• ↑ 3 — 3 unpushed commits
• ↓ 2 — 2 new commits on GitHub
• • — has uncommitted changes

Productivity Tips

1. Use descriptive names

✅ Good names:
- company-website
- python-course
- todo-app

❌ Bad names:
- project1
- test
- asdf

2. Pin your frequent projects

Pin ⭐ projects you work on every day.

3. Remove unused ones

Right-click on a repository → Remove.

Note: This only removes it from the GitHub Desktop list; files on disk remain!

4. Group your folders

Store projects in organized folders:

~/Documents/GitHub/
├── work/
│   ├── company-site/
│   └── internal-tool/
└── personal/
    ├── blog/
    └── todo-app/

5. Use search

If you have many repositories (> 10), use the search bar instead of scrolling.

Frequently Asked Questions

❓ Can I work with two repositories at the same time?

No, GitHub Desktop shows one repository at a time. But you can:
- Open a second instance of GitHub Desktop (often doesn’t work)
- Use the terminal for the second project
- Open a second editor with the other project

❓ How do I remove a repository from the list?

Right-click → Remove. Files on disk will remain!

❓ The repository disappeared from the list!

Add it again: Add → Add Existing Repository → select the folder.

❓ How do I rename a repository?

1. Rename the folder in your file explorer
2. In GitHub Desktop: Repository → Repository Settings
3. The path will update automatically

❓ Too many repositories, it’s slow?

GitHub Desktop handles hundreds of repositories easily. If it’s slow:
- Remove unused ones from the list
- Check the size of .git folders
- Update GitHub Desktop

Organizing a Large Number of Projects

1. By project type

personal/
work/
learning/
open-source/

2. By technology

python-projects/
javascript-projects/
go-projects/

3. By status

active/    (current)
archived/  (finished)
experiments/  (experiments)

Navigation Shortcuts

• Ctrl+T (Win) / Cmd+T (Mac) — Quick Switch
• Ctrl+1 — Changes tab
• Ctrl+2 — History tab
• Ctrl+, — Settings (full repository list)

Quick switching = productive work! Use pinning and search! 🚀