GitHub Desktop Portable

GitHub Desktop Portable is a portable build of GitHub Desktop, GitHub's open-source app for working with Git and GitHub repositories. It runs the build that's native to the computer (x64 or ARM64) and keeps itself up to date.

It's built with the PortableApps Compiler (pac-man): every change it makes to Windows is recorded first and undone when GitHub Desktop closes, or on the next launch if something went wrong.

Download

Downloads are in the Releases section. The package is in PortableApps.com format, so it installs into the PortableApps.com Platform or any folder you like.

Features

• The full GitHub Desktop, with its bundled Git.
• Native on every PC: x64 and ARM64 builds. On Windows on ARM the launcher downloads and runs the ARM64 build instead of running x64 under emulation. (See Builds)
• Updates itself: checks GitHub's official downloads at start and updates the builds the package has. A failed or interrupted update keeps the version you had. (See Updates)
• Your data travels with it: settings, the repository list, and the repositories you clone into the default folder are kept in Data. (See Data)
• Leaves the PC's Git alone: your Git name and email live in Data\\.gitconfig, not in the PC's .gitconfig.
• Leaves nothing behind: the x-github-client, x-github-desktop-auth and github-windows links GitHub Desktop registers for itself only exist while it runs. An installed GitHub Desktop's links are put back exactly as they were.
• No administrator rights: everything is done for the current user only.

System Requirements

• Windows 10 or later, 64-bit (x64 or ARM64). GitHub Desktop has no 32-bit build.
• PortableApps.com Platform (optional).
• An internet connection for updates and for working with GitHub.
• Data on a local drive (a USB drive is fine; a network share isn't). See Data.

Configuration

GitHubDesktopPortable.ini, next to the launcher, holds the user settings. If it gets damaged, or you want to go back to the defaults, copy Other\\Source\\GitHubDesktopPortable.ini over it.

[GitHubDesktopPortable]
AdditionalParameters=
RunLocally=false
UpdateCheck=true
Architecture=auto

Key	Values	Default	What it does
UpdateCheck	true, false	true	Check for a new GitHub Desktop at start and offer to update.
Architecture	auto, x64, arm64	auto	Which build to run. auto picks the native one.
AdditionalParameters	text	empty	Extra command line switches passed to GitHub Desktop.
RunLocally	true, false	false	Copy GitHub Desktop to the TEMP folder and run it from there.

Builds

Folder	Build	Runs on
App\\GitHubDesktop	x64	x64 Windows, and Windows 11 on ARM under emulation
App\\GitHubDesktopARM64	ARM64	ARM64 Windows

The package ships the x64 build. The first time it starts on ARM64 Windows (with UpdateCheck=true), it offers to download the ARM64 build; until then the x64 build runs under emulation. If the build the launcher wants is missing, it falls back to the other one instead of failing to start.

To force a build, set Architecture=x64 or arm64. The ARM64 build can only be forced on ARM64 Windows.

Updates

With UpdateCheck=true, the launcher asks GitHub for the latest GitHub Desktop each time it starts, the same download links the GitHub Desktop website uses. When there's a newer version for a build the package has, it asks before doing anything.

An update is all or nothing:

1. Every installer is downloaded, with a progress bar. If a download fails, nothing changes.
2. GitHub Desktop is unpacked straight out of each installer, next to the current build. The installer is never run, so nothing gets installed on the PC. If anything can't be unpacked, or isn't the version GitHub announced, nothing changes.
3. The new builds are swapped in. Each swap is recorded first, so if one fails, or the launcher is interrupted halfway, the previous version is put back, on the spot or on the next launch.

The launcher carries its own copy of 7-Zip for the unpacking, so it needs no other tools.

A build can't be replaced while it's in use. If the update says so, close GitHub Desktop and any Git window started from it, then try again.

GitHub Desktop's own Check for updates (in Help > About GitHub Desktop) doesn't work in the portable build, because it relies on the installed version's updater. Use the launcher's instead, or install a newer release of GitHub Desktop Portable over the old one. Your Data folder is kept either way.

Packages without GitHub Desktop

If the package has no build it can run, the launcher offers to download one before it starts. This also happens once for copies made by older versions of GitHub Desktop Portable, which kept GitHub Desktop the way its installer does (Update.exe and app-<version> folders); the new build replaces that copy, and Data is kept.

Data

GitHub Desktop keeps everything in two places, which the launcher links into Data while it runs:

GitHub Desktop uses	Kept in
%APPDATA%\\GitHub Desktop (settings, repository list, sign-in state)	Data\\AppData\\GitHub Desktop
Documents\\GitHub (the default folder for cloned repositories)	Data\\GitHub

The links are NTFS junctions, so nothing is copied back and forth, however big your repositories get. If an installed GitHub Desktop already has either folder, it's moved aside for the session and put back when GitHub Desktop Portable closes.

Because the repositories are reached through Documents\\GitHub, their paths don't change when the drive letter does. Repositories you add from anywhere else are remembered by their full path, so keep them under the default folder if they travel with the package.

Note

GitHub Desktop stores your GitHub sign-in in the Windows Credential Manager of the PC you sign in on. On a different PC you'll be asked to sign in again.

Important

Junctions can only point to a local drive. Running from a network share isn't supported.

If something goes wrong

If GitHub Desktop Portable didn't close properly (a crash, a power cut, a USB drive pulled out), the next launch tells you and undoes everything the last session changed before it starts again. You don't need to do anything else.

When reporting a problem, please include an export of the HKEY\_CURRENT\_USER\\Software\\pac-man\\Journal registry key and the contents of %LOCALAPPDATA%\\pac-man\\Journal.

Building from source

The launcher is built with the PortableApps Compiler. Its configuration lives in App\\AppInfo:

File	Contents
App\\AppInfo\\appinfo.ini	Package details and version
App\\AppInfo\\Launcher\\GitHubDesktopPortable.ini	The launcher configuration: executables per build, the data links, the Git settings
App\\AppInfo\\Launcher\\custom.nsh	Build selection, the updater and the protocol links
Other\\Source\\7-Zip	The 7-Zip the updater uses, embedded in the launcher at compile time

Point PortableApps Compiler at the package folder and compile. The ProgramExecutableARM64 key needs the current pac-man.

Credits

• GitHub Desktop Portable is a redistribution of GitHub Desktop by GitHub, Inc., licensed under the MIT license.
• The updater uses 7-Zip by Igor Pavlov, licensed under the GNU LGPL. See Other\\Source\\7-Zip\\License.txt.
• PortableApps.com Platform by PortableApps.com.
• PortableApps Compiler developed by daemon.devin.