GitHub Tutorial for Beginners: How to Use GitHub Step-by-Step (With Real Examples)

If you’re learning Git, your next step is almost always GitHub.

Beginners often think GitHub is “just a website for programmers”, but GitHub is actually the center of modern development workflow — where you store code online, collaborate, publish projects, and create a portfolio.

In this tutorial you will learn GitHub from zero, even if you’ve never used it before.

You’ll learn:

• what GitHub is (and what it isn’t)
• how to create your first repository
• how to upload code
• what clone, push, and pull mean
• how pull requests work (in the easiest possible way)
• how to contribute to other projects using forks

Let’s go step-by-step.

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Key Takeaways (Quick Summary)

• GitHub is not Git — Git is the tool, GitHub is the platform.
• A GitHub repository is your project hosted online.
• You can upload code using:
  • GitHub website (easy)
  • Git commands (recommended)
• Clone downloads a repo to your PC.
• Push sends your local commits to GitHub.
• Pull brings GitHub changes into your local repo.
• Pull Requests (PRs) are the standard way to suggest changes to a project.
• Fork creates your own copy of someone else’s repo.

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What Is GitHub? (Beginner explanation)

GitHub is a platform that hosts your code online.

It helps you:

✅ store repositories in the cloud
✅ collaborate with other developers
✅ track issues and tasks
✅ review code changes
✅ publish open-source projects
✅ build a portfolio

GitHub is like “Google Drive for code”… but smarter.

Unlike cloud storage tools, GitHub understands Git history, commits, branches, merges, and collaboration workflows.

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GitHub vs Git (Critical difference)

Many beginners confuse these:

✅ Git (local)

• runs on your computer
• tracks file history
• works offline

If you want to learn Git, you can check our Git Tutorial for Beginners: Learn Version Control Step-by-Step.

✅ GitHub (online)

• hosts repos online
• allows collaboration
• creates portfolio & public projects

You can use Git without GitHub.
You can’t use GitHub properly without Git (for professional workflows).

GitHub Basics Vocabulary (Must know)

These are the common words you’ll see on GitHub:

Repository (Repo)

Your project hosted on GitHub.

Profile

Your GitHub account page.

Commit

Saved snapshot of changes (same concept as Git).

Branch

Parallel version of code (same concept as Git).

Pull Request (PR)

A request to merge changes into another branch/repo.

Fork

A copy of someone else’s repository into your account.

Issues

Task tracking / bug reports / feature requests.

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Step 1 — Create Your GitHub Account

If you don’t have one:

1. Create a GitHub account
2. Confirm email
3. Add profile photo (recommended)
4. Add a short bio (optional)

✅ Tip for beginners: Keep your profile clean and professional. GitHub is also used as a portfolio.

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Step 2 — Create Your First GitHub Repository

Create a new repo (beginner-friendly setup)

Inside GitHub:

1. Click New repository
2. Choose a name: git-beginner-project
3. Set visibility:

• Public (recommended to build portfolio)
• Private (if you want)

4. Check:

• ✅ Add a README file

5. Click Create repository

🎉 Done — your repo is online.

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Your First Repository Structure (What you’ll see)

In your repo you’ll usually see:

• README.md (project description)
• file list
• Commit count
• Branch dropdown (main)
• Code button
• Issues / Pull Requests tabs

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GitHub Features Beginners Use Most

Feature	What it’s for	Beginner Use
Repositories	host projects online	upload code
README	explain your project	portfolio
Commits	track history	see progress
Branches	safe feature work	avoid breaking main
Pull Requests	merge changes	collaboration
Forks	copy repos	contribute to open-source
Issues	tasks/bugs	project organization

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Step 3 — Upload Code to GitHub (2 Easy Methods)

There are two common ways:

✅ Method 1 (Easiest): Upload using GitHub website

This is great for beginners.

1. Enter your repo
2. Click Add file → Upload files
3. Drag and drop files
4. Scroll down and click Commit changes

✅ This works even if you don’t know Git commands yet.

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✅ Method 2 (Professional): Upload using Git commands

This is the real workflow used in jobs.

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Connect Local Git Repo with GitHub (Real Setup)

Let’s say you already have a local project.

Step 1 — Create local folder and init Git

mkdir github-first-repo
cd github-first-repo
git init

Step 2 — Add a simple README

echo "# My First GitHub Repo" > README.md

Step 3 — Stage and commit

git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

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Add GitHub Remote (Super Important)

GitHub gives you a remote repository URL.

Add it:

git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/github-first-repo.git

Check remote:

git remote -v

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Push Your Code to GitHub (First Push)

Now send your commits online:

git push -u origin main

If your branch name is master, use:

git push -u origin master

✅ After this, next pushes are easier:

git push

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Clone a GitHub Repo (Download to your PC)

If you want to download a GitHub repo to your computer:

git clone https://github.com/USER/REPO.git

Example:

git clone https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World.git

This creates a folder with the full repo history.

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Pull vs Push (Beginner friendly explanation)

This is where many beginners get stuck. Here is the simplest definition:

✅ Push

Sends your local commits to GitHub

git push

✅ Pull

Downloads GitHub changes to your computer

git pull

Push = upload
Pull = download

GitHub Branching Workflow (Practical)

A clean GitHub workflow looks like this:

✅ main branch is stable
✅ create a feature branch for changes
✅ push branch
✅ open a Pull Request
✅ merge PR to main

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Create a Branch and Push It

Step 1 — create branch locally

git checkout -b feature-homepage

Step 2 — edit something

Example: update README or index.html

Step 3 — commit

git add .
git commit -m "Update homepage"

Step 4 — push branch to GitHub

git push -u origin feature-homepage

Now GitHub will show a message:
✅ “Compare & pull request”

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Pull Requests (PR): The Most Important GitHub Skill

A Pull Request is a “proposal to merge code”.

Even if you work alone, PRs help you:

• review changes
• keep history clean
• avoid mistakes

PR workflow for beginners:

1. Push your branch
2. Open PR to main
3. Review changes
4. Merge

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Forks (How Beginners Contribute to Open Source)

Let’s say you want to contribute to another project.

You cannot push directly to their repo.

So you do this:

1. Click Fork
2. GitHub creates a copy in your account
3. You clone your fork
4. You create a branch
5. You push changes to your fork
6. You open a PR to the original repo

✅ That’s how open-source works.

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GitHub Beginner Checklist (Do These in Order)

Use this checklist to make sure you actually learned the real workflow.

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Quick Quiz: GitHub Terms

Test yourself. If you can answer these, you already know the basics.

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Best Practices for Beginners

1) Keep repos clean

Don’t upload:

• random zip files
• duplicate folders
• build files (node_modules)
• secret keys

2) Learn .gitignore

Example .gitignore for Node:

node_modules/
.env
dist/

3) Write a simple README

A good beginner README includes:

• what the project is
• how to run it
• features
• screenshots (optional)

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FAQ

Quick answers to common questions about this topic.

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Recommended Reading

• Git Tutorial for Beginners: Learn Version Control Step-by-Step
• Frontend Basics Hub: HTML, CSS & JavaScript (Beginner Roadmap)
• JavaScript Tutorial for Beginners
• HTML Tutorial for Beginners
• CSS Tutorial for Beginners