🚀 How to Use Multiple Git Accounts (Personal + Work) on the Same Laptop (with Verified Commits)

So you’ve got two GitHub accounts —
one for your personal projects and another for your company.

You clone a repo, make a commit... and oops 😬 GitHub shows it’s from the wrong account.
Or worse — unverified commit ❌

Don’t worry! This guide will walk you through everything step-by-step — for Linux, macOS, and Windows users.

🧰 Demo Setup

Let’s say:

We’ll use these throughout the tutorial.

💻 System Notes

✅ The main commands below are for Linux/macOS.
For Windows (PowerShell), replace:

• ~ → C:\Users\<YourName>
• nano → notepad
• eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" → Start-Service ssh-agent

🔹 Step 1: Generate Separate SSH Keys

Generate keys for both accounts. These act as your digital fingerprints.

Now you’ll have:

~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal
~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal.pub
~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work
~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work.pub

🔹 Step 2: Start ssh-agent and Add Keys

Let’s tell your system to remember your keys.

Linux/macOS:

Windows (PowerShell):

Start-Service ssh-agent
ssh-add "C:\Users\<YourName>\.ssh\id_ed25519_personal"
ssh-add "C:\Users\<YourName>\.ssh\id_ed25519_work"

🔹 Step 3: Create SSH Config File

This file tells Git which key to use for which account.

Add this content:

# Personal GitHub
Host github.com-personal
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal

# Work GitHub
Host github.com-work
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work

Save and close the file.

🔹 Step 4: Add SSH Keys to GitHub

Display your public keys:

Then:

1. Go to GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG Keys → New SSH key.
2. Paste each key into the right account.

🔹 Step 5: Clone Repositories

When cloning, use the correct host alias:

Notice the difference? We’re telling Git which SSH identity to use.

🔹 Step 6: Set Your Identity per Repo

Inside each cloned repo:

For work repo:

This ensures commits are tagged with the correct name and email.

🔹 Step 7: Generate GPG Keys (for Verified Commits ✅)

Let’s add that sweet green “Verified” badge next to your commits.

Choose:

1. RSA and RSA → Option 1
2. Key size → 4096
3. Expiry → 1y (optional)
4. Email → Match your GitHub email
5. Name → Your Name

Repeat this for both accounts.

🔹 Step 8: Find and Copy Your GPG Key ID

List all GPG keys:

Example output:

sec   rsa4096/ABCD1234EFGH5678 2025-01-01 [SC]
      ABCD1234EFGH5678ABCD1234EFGH5678ABCD1234
uid           [ultimate] Your Name <personal@example.com>

Copy the key ID after the /, for example: ABCD1234EFGH5678

Then export it to copy:

Paste this into GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New GPG key.

🔹 Step 9: Tell Git to Sign Commits Automatically

Inside your repo:

Then add your key:

Now every commit you make will be verified ✅.

🔹 Step 10: Automate with Conditional Git Config

If you switch between repos often, automate your identity!

Add this to your global Git config:

Then create the two files:

~/.gitconfig-work:

[user]
    name = Work Dev
    email = work@company.com
    signingkey = WORKGPGKEY123

~/.gitconfig-personal:

[user]
    name = Personal Dev
    email = personal@example.com
    signingkey = PERSONAGPGKEY123

Now Git automatically switches identity depending on which folder you’re in. 🎯

🔹 Full .gitconfig Example

Here’s a working global config:

# ~/.gitconfig
[user]
    name = Default Dev
    email = default@example.com

[core]
    editor = code --wait

[includeIf "gitdir:~/work/**"]
    path = ~/.gitconfig-work

[includeIf "gitdir:~/personal/**"]
    path = ~/.gitconfig-personal

🧠 Verification Test

To check which identity Git is using inside any repo:

✅ Your Final Workflow

1. Clone repos with the right SSH alias
2. Git auto-selects the right SSH key & GPG key
3. Verified commits appear for both accounts
4. No more “oops wrong account” moments

🎯 Final Thoughts

You just mastered multi-account Git setup with verified commits — like a pro! This one-time setup saves you countless headaches later.

👉 Set it once 👉 Forget forever 👉 Push with confidence 🚀

Written with ❤️ for every developer tired of Git yelling at them.