Difference Between fork and clone in GitHub Last Updated : 30 Jun, 2024 Suggest changes Share Like Article Like Report Understanding the difference between fork and clone in GitHub is important for anyone looking to collaborate on open-source projects or manage their code efficiently. While both actions involve creating a copy of a repository, their purposes and implementations differ significantly. This article will learn these concepts, making it easier for you to navigate GitHub effectively.What is GitHub?GitHub is a platform for version control and collaboration, allowing multiple people to work on projects simultaneously. It leverages Git, a distributed version control system, enabling you to track changes in your code, revert to previous stages, and work on different branches independently.What is a Fork?A fork is a personal copy of someone else's repository that lives on your GitHub account. Forking a repository allows you to freely experiment with changes without affecting the original project. This is particularly useful for contributing to open-source projects. Here's a breakdown of the key points:Independent Copy: A forked repository is an independent copy of the original repository, meaning changes made to the fork do not affect the original.Contribution: Forks are commonly used to propose changes to someone else's project. You can modify your fork and then create a pull request to suggest changes to the original repository.Collaboration: Forks are useful for collaborative development, where multiple contributors can work on their versions and merge changes into the original project through pull requests.How to Fork a RepositoryNavigate to the repository you want to fork.Click the Fork button at the top-right corner of the repository page.GitHub will create a copy of the repository under your account.Note: It will take some time and when the process is complete, the forked copy of the project will open. Now let us see what Clone stands for in developing projects or be it a smaller program. What is a Clone?A clone is a copy of a repository that is created on your local machine. Cloning a repository allows you to work on a project offline and is the first step in most Git workflows. Here's what you need to know:Local Copy: A cloned repository is a local copy of the repository on your computer. You can modify this copy, commit changes, and push updates to the remote repository.Synchronization: Cloning allows you to synchronize changes between your local and remote repositories using Git commands like git pull and git push.Version Control: With a cloned repository, you have full access to the project's entire history, including branches, tags, and commits.How to Clone a RepositoryNavigate to the repository you want to clone.Click the Code button and copy the repository URL.Open your terminal or Git Bash.Run the command: git clone [repository URL]Now let us discuss the conclusive differences between Fork and Clone operation over a repository, been depicted below in a tabular format provided below as follows:Difference between fork and clone in GitHubForkCloneForking is done on the GitHub AccountCloning is done using GitForking a repository creates a copy of the original repository on our GitHub accountCloning a repository creates a copy of the original repository on our local machineChanges made to the forked repository can be merged with the original repository via a pull requestChanges made to the cloned repository cannot be merged with the original repository unless you are the collaborator or the owner of the repositoryForking is a conceptCloning is a processForking is just containing a separate copy of the repository and there is no command involvedCloning is done through the command ‘git clone‘ and it is a process of receiving all the code files to the local machine C CoderSaty Follow Article Tags : Difference Between Web Technologies Git Explore Git Tutorial 6 min read Git IntroductionGit Introduction 5 min read Introduction to Github 5 min read An Ultimate Guide to Git and Github 12 min read What is Git? 6 min read What Is Gitlab? 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