Open, Clone, or Initialize a Git Repository in GitKraken Desktop

Last updated: January 2026

Each user will need to open, clone, or initialize a repository in GitKraken Desktop. This guide explains how.

Setup

Complete these setup steps before managing repositories:

1. Install GitKraken Desktop
2. Create an account and configure your profile

Repository Management

The Repository Management tab provides an overview of active repositories, Workspaces, and favorites. Open this tab by clicking the folder icon in the top-left or using:

• Alt + O (Windows/Linux)
• Cmd + O (Mac)

From here, you can:

• Browse: Open a local Git repository.
• Clone: Copy a remote Git repository to your machine.
• Init: Initialize a new Git repository or reinitialize an existing one.

This tab also includes Workspaces and repository actions:

• Open in VS Code
• View repository details (README.md panel)
• Open/Close repo tab

Open an Existing Project

To open an existing repo:

1. From Repository Management, select Browse
2. Use the file explorer to locate your repo

You can also access this via the New Tab by clicking the + icon.

Open Shallow Cloned Repos

GitKraken Desktop supports opening shallow cloned repositories.

No special setup is required. Just navigate to the shallow clone’s location and open it as you would any other repository (see above).

Clone a Project

To clone a remote repo:

1. In Repository Management, select Clone

2. You can also access clone options via File > Clone or the New Tab.

Shallow Clone

GitKraken Desktop supports shallow cloning when cloning a repository. Shallow clones let you limit the commit history that is downloaded, which can significantly reduce clone time and disk usage for large repositories.

To perform a shallow clone:

1. Open the Clone dialog from Repository Management, the New Tab, or File > Clone.
2. Select the repository you want to clone.
3. Enable the Shallow Clone option.

When Shallow Clone is selected, additional options become available:

• Branch to clone: Specify the branch to clone. By default, GitKraken Desktop uses the repository’s default branch.
• Depth: Set how many commits deep to clone from the selected branch.
• Since date: Limit the clone to commits newer than a specific date.
• Custom flags: Provide any additional flags you typically pass to the git clone command. Enter these exactly as you would in the command-line interface.

4. Click Clone the repo! to complete the shallow clone.

After cloning, the repository opens automatically in GitKraken Desktop.

Initialize a New Project

To start a new repo:

1. Select Init in Repository Management.

2. Fill in:

   • Repository path
   • .gitignore template (optional)
   • License (optional)

3. Click Create Repository

Also accessible via File > Init or New Tab.

Initialization result:

• .git directory created
• Repo opens in GitKraken Desktop
• Includes README.md, and optionally .gitignore and LICENSE

Customize Repository Management

• Drag and drop group headers to reorder
• Change colors via Change color in the repo group menu
• Set default colors in Preferences > UI Customization