Rename a Git branch locally and remotely? [duplicate]

Question 1

Is there a way to rename a Git branch locally and push it to the remote branch, even if there are already many commits pushed to the remote branch?

Or, is it necessary to create a new local branch, delete the old local branch, and then repeat the operation on the remote repository?

Question 2

Yes,

the feature move exists to rename the branch locally

git branch --move <old_name> <new_name>

1 2	git branch --move

but to push it, you must delete the old and push the new

git checkout <new_name>
git push origin [--set-upstream] <new_name>
git push origin --delete <old_name>

1

2

3

4

git checkout

git push origin [--set-upstream]

git push origin --delete

--set-upstream is optional, it configure the new local branch to track the pushed one

You can use the following shorthands:

move locally (–move) :

Default

git branch -m <old_name> <new_name>

1
2

git branch -m
push new branch (–set-upstream, optional) :

Default

git push origin [-u] <new_name>

1
2

git push origin [-u]
delete (–delete) :

Default

git push origin -d <old_name>

1
2

git push origin -d

NB.

Thanks to torek’s comment:

Worth mentioning, by the way, is that you should

notify other users who share the upstream that you will be doing this, and
do this in the order shown (set new name, then delete old).

The reason for #1 is that those users will need to adjust.

The reason for #2 is mainly just efficiency: it avoids having to re-copy objects to an upstream repo that drops commits on branch deletion (most bare repositories do that, and most repositories that accept pushes are bare)