How to add license to an existing GitHub project
Solution 1
- Go to your repository
- Add a new file by clicking the blue plus icon
- Type the file name as License.txt or License.md after which a license picker will show up. Then you can choose the type of license.
Solution 2
- In your repository, click 'Create new file'
2. a) Type 'LICENSE', 'LICENSE.md' or 'LICENSE.txt' as the new file's file name. b) The 'Want to use a new template?' dialog will appear.
- Choose your preferred license.
The accepted answer is almost there, but confused me, because it said 'click the blue plus' - the interface may have changed - and the image is the same as the OP's.
Solution 3
There is an easier way to get to the 'Add License' wizard:
- Go to your repository's
Insights
tab - Click
Community
on the left side - On the right side, click
Add
on the line wich saysLicense
For some reason this is not even mentioned in the docs at github.
Solution 4
- Go to your repository
- Click on "Create new file" Button
- Type the file name as License.txt or License.md in the input box next to your repository name, a drop down button appears towards right side
- Choose the type of license of your choice
- Click "Commit new file" button at the bottom (Green button)
Solution 5
I just wanted to add another valid alternative using https://choosealicense.com made by Github and many more.
ChooseALicense.com aims to provide accurate, non-judgmental, and understandable information about popular open source licenses in order to help people make informed decisions about the projects they start, maintain, contribute to, and use.
After you have picked your license there are two alternative ways to transfer your new license.
-
Copy to clipboard: Click button
Copy license text to clipboard
and paste into yourLICENSE
file anywhere you want. How to add license into Github is answered by others. -
Github: Fill textfield
Enter GitHub repository url
and hitEnter
(Bellow the button). You will be asked for permission to access your Github repository.
Note!
Create a text file (typically named LICENSE or LICENSE.txt) in the root of your source code and copy the text of the license into the file. Replace [year] with the current year and [fullname] with the name (or names) of the copyright holders
King
Updated on October 15, 2021Comments
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King over 2 years
When I created a GitHub project I chose None.
How can I now add a GPL license to my already added project?
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Dan Dascalescu over 7 yearsAs a bonus, the license will now be displayed in the upper right part of the page, after the number of contributors.
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BrechtDeMan over 7 yearsSo it is! Good feature. Probably not on-topic enough to include in my answer, but thanks for highlighting it.
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vog almost 6 yearsNote that the most common file name is simply LICENSE, while LICENSE.txt and LICENSE.md are less common file names.
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Max over 5 yearsVery useful and much easier. Thanks so much.
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Muhammad Tariq about 3 yearsThis is better and easier approach than other answers. Should have been marked as "Accepted" in my view.
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zimdanen almost 2 yearsThis is now under Community Standards.