CODEWITHSUNDEEP
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tatzooism
tatzooism

Reputation: 181

How to fix Git for Windows error: "could not lock config file C:/file/path/to/.gitconfig: File exists"?

While trying to set up Git with my GitHub account the following error keeps persisting whenever I try to do a global config.

It works fine for repositories, but the global doesn't work.

Here's how it shows:

$ git config --global user.name "username"
error: could not lock config file C:/Path/to/.gitconfig: File exists

I'm using Git 2.21.0 on Windows 10 Pro.

Upvotes: 18

Views: 64631

Answers (6)

Hana Diha
Hana Diha

Reputation: 1

I got the error after I did reboot my machine with recent SW changes mandated by my organization! I just reboot my machine again and the error went away! Try to reboot your machine first to see if it fixes the error! Cheers! :)

Upvotes: -1

Mohammad Reza
Mohammad Reza

Reputation: 911

Restarting the system helped me.

Upvotes: -1

Filipe Lima
Filipe Lima

Reputation: 1

I have just had this issue and the "problem" was a security configuration in Windows, Folder lock or something like that. It is under Settings > Windows Security > Protection History. If you allow the access, it should work just fine

Upvotes: 0

Keios Starqua
Keios Starqua

Reputation: 39

In other situation, If you don't have .gitconfig.lock file, there should be a config.lock file in .git folder of the repo. You can delete this file and It will fixed this problem.

Upvotes: 2

rup
rup

Reputation: 141

Since you're on Windows 10, it could be an issue if your .gitconfig is located at C:. If that's the case, try running your git bash with Administrator privileges (right-click on your executable, select More > run as Administrator) and see if that works. You need administrator privileges to work on files at the root of C:. That worked for me.

Upvotes: 11

Alexander Hanssen
Alexander Hanssen

Reputation: 290

Check your folder where the .gitconfig file is located, and if there is a .gitconfig.lock file, delete it. I got the same error and this fixed it for me.

Upvotes: 12

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