Clone a Github Repository into a Private One

Let’s say the repository you want to clone is https://github.com/example/public_example.git

You want to clone this repository to your local computer and then push it to your private Github repository.

First:

git clone https://github.com/example/public_example.git

Now the public repository is cloned to your local computer.

This step is important: You need to clean the git init:

rm -rf .git #this will clean all git directories and its contents

At this stage, you should have your private repository created on the Github site. You can create it from here. Don’t forget to choose the Private Repository option.

Now, it’s time to push your directory to your newly created private Github repository:

git init                              
git add README.md
git commit -m "first commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/youruser/private_example.git
git push -u origin main

If you encounter the following error:

error: src refspec main does not match any
error: failed to push some refs to …

This is how I solved this error:

git commit -m "ne2" 
git status -u 

git reset --hard HEAD                         

now, remove existing local git:

rm -rf .git

Create a new one:

git init                                                      
git add README.md
git commit -m "first commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/XXXXX.git
git push -u origin main

This solves the problem.