Help! What’s the Best Way to Start Using GitHub as a Complete Beginner?

[saboyau557]

Hi GitHub Community! I’m brand new to GitHub and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’ve just created my account and want to learn the ropes. What are the first steps you recommend for a beginner to understand GitHub? For example:
How do I set up my first repository?
What’s the difference between Git and GitHub?
Are there any beginner-friendly tutorials or projects you’d suggest?
I’m interested in using GitHub for personal coding projects (mostly Python). Any tips, resources, or “Hello World” exercises to get me started would be amazing! Thanks!

[yaswanthteja]

The best thing is just go through the git commands and learn the core concepts about git, git branches, about version control .you can reffer here or if you like to learn in an interactive way, then you can check out this game it is well organized and just by playing you can learn here
if you are an tutorial guy then you can get some many youtube videos on git and github , but don't stuck on tutorial hell just download git in your system and connect your git to github by using these commands run one by one in your terminal.

git config --global user.name "My Name"                //My Name ---> github username
git config --global user.email "someone@email.com"     //someone@email.com ---> your email
git config --list

Then create a github repo and clone to your local system and practice one by one then you can master it .

[Jaydev-1510]

What’s the difference between Git and GitHub?

• Git is a version control system — it runs locally on your computer and tracks changes to files over time.
• GitHub is a hosting platform for Git repositories — it lets you store your code online, collaborate with others, and showcase your work.

Think of Git as the tool, and GitHub as the place you share your work using that tool.

How to Set Up Your First Repository (Repo):

On GitHub:

1. Go to your GitHub homepage.
2. Click the green "New" button or the "+" at the top right > New repository.
3. Name it something like hello-python.
4. (Optional) Add a README file (this explains what your project does).
5. Click Create repository.

On Computer:

1. Install git.
2. Add a remote.
3. Make your changes and commit.
4. Finally push.

I suggest you this video - Git and GitHub Tutorial it will teach almost everything.

[rahatislamanik-spec]

Hey, welcome to GitHub! It can feel like a lot at first, but you really don’t need to learn everything at once.

I’d start with just three things:

Learn the difference between Git and GitHub — Git is the version control tool, and GitHub is where you store and share your code.

Create a small test repo — something simple like hello-python is perfect. Add a README, make one change, commit it, and push it.

Practice one tiny workflow at a time — fork a repo, clone it, edit one file, and open a pull request.

For tutorials, I found GitHub Docs, Learn Git Branching, and a couple of YouTube videos really helpful because they show the process step by step.

My biggest advice is: don’t wait until you feel “ready” — just start with a tiny project and learn as you go. That’s what made it click for me.