An open source Git extension for versioning large files

Git Large File Storage (LFS) replaces large files such as audio samples, videos, datasets, and graphics with text pointers inside Git, while storing the file contents on a remote server like GitHub.com or GitHub Enterprise.

Download v3.0.2

How it works:

a diagram showing how Git LFS works
Git LFS security update: Windows users should update to 2.13.2 or newer.

Getting Started

  1. Download and install the Git command line extension. Once downloaded and installed, set up Git LFS for your user account by running: 

    git lfs install

    You only need to run this once per user account.

  2. In each Git repository where you want to use Git LFS, select the file types you'd like Git LFS to manage (or directly edit your .gitattributes). You can configure additional file extensions at anytime.

    git lfs track "*.psd"

    Now make sure .gitattributes is tracked:

    git add .gitattributes

    Note that defining the file types Git LFS should track will not, by itself, convert any pre-existing files to Git LFS, such as files on other branches or in your prior commit history. To do that, use the git lfs migrate[1] command, which has a range of options designed to suit various potential use cases.

  3. There is no step three. Just commit and push to GitHub as you normally would; for instance, if your current branch is named main:

    git add file.psd
git commit -m "Add design file"
git push origin main

    Check out our wiki, discussion forum, and documentation for help with any questions you might have!

Git LFS is an open source project

To start a discussion, file an issue, or contribute to the project, head over to the repository or read our guide to contributing.

If you're interested in integrating Git LFS into another tool or product, you might want to read the API specification or check out our reference server implementation.

Features

  • Large file versioning

    Version large files—even those as large as a couple GB in size—with Git.

  • More repository space

    Host more in your Git repositories. External file storage makes it easy to keep your repository at a manageable size.

  • Faster cloning and fetching

    Download less data. This means faster cloning and fetching from repositories that deal with large files.

  • Same Git workflow

    Work like you always do on Git—no need for additional commands, secondary storage systems, or toolsets.

  • Same access controls and permissions

    Keep the same access controls and permissions for large files as the rest of your Git repository when working with a remote host like GitHub.