About successors
We recommend inviting another GitHub user to be your successor, to manage your user owned repositories if you cannot. As a successor, they will have permission to:
- Archive your public repositories.
- Transfer your public repositories to their own user owned account.
- Transfer your public repositories to an organization where they can create repositories.
Successors cannot log into your account.
An appointed successor can manage your public repositories after presenting a death certificate then waiting for 7 days or presenting an obituary then waiting for 21 days. For more information, see GitHub Deceased User Policy.
To request access to manage repositories as a successor, please contact us through the GitHub Support portal.
Inviting a successor
The person you invite to be your successor must have a GitHub account.
-
In the upper-right corner of any page on GitHub, click your profile photo, then click Settings.
-
In the left sidebar, click Account.
-
Under "Successor settings", to invite a successor, begin typing a username, full name, or email address, then click their name when it appears.
-
Click Add successor.
-
If prompted, confirm access to your account on GitHub Enterprise Cloud. For more information, see Sudo mode.
The user you've invited will be listed as "Pending" until they agree to become your successor.