How to rename a remote branch in Git

While working in a team, there are usually some naming conventions for the branches, like prefixing the branch with “feat/” for feature branch, or “fix/” for bug fixes. Then forgetful me will tend to forgot the prefix some of the times. So, here are the steps to rename a remote branch.

1. Rename the local branch

git branch -m <new name>

1. Push the branch and set a new upstream branch

git push origin -u <new name>

1. Delete the old remote branch

git push origin --delete <old name>

Explanation: After you renamed the branch locally, the upstream branch is not updated automatically, so a normal git push will still push the old name to the remote. So it is necessary to add the -u option to set a new upstream branch. After that, you basically have both the new and old branches on the remote. Thus, you will need to do a push with the delete option to delete the old branch on the remote.