Software⏱️ 2 min read📅 2026-05-31

How to Fix: Trying to git pull with error: cannot open .git/FETCH_HEAD: Permission denied

Git permission error resolved by changing ownership of .git directory.

Quick Answer: Change the ownership of the .git directory to your user account using `sudo chown -R $USER:$USER ~/CollegePortal/.git` and try again.

You are encountering the 'cannot open .git/FETCH_HEAD: Permission denied' error while trying to pull changes from a remote repository due to an issue with your Git configuration. This problem can arise when there's a mismatch between the SSH keys used for authentication and those specified in your Git configuration.

💡 Why You Are Getting This Error

  • [Cause]

🛠️ Step-by-Step Verified Fixes

Method 1: Configuring Git to Use Your SSH Keys

  1. Step 1: Open your terminal and navigate to the repository where you're trying to pull changes.

Run the following command: `git config --global user.key `

Replace `` with the actual path to your private SSH key file.

Method 2: Using `git config` to Specify Your SSH Keys

  1. Step 1: Run the following command: `git config --global user.key `

Replace `` with the actual path to your private SSH key file.

This command will update the Git configuration to use your specified SSH keys for authentication.

✨ Wrapping Up

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the 'cannot open .git/FETCH_HEAD: Permission denied' error and successfully pull changes from your remote repository.

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