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Step 1: Navigate to GitHub and choose "Sign up."
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Step 2: Fill in the form with your email, a password, and a username. Click the “Continue” button
when done.
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Step 3: You will need to solve a visual or audio puzzle to proceed. The author chose the visual
puzzle.
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Step 4: You will need to check the email account you used in the step above and enter the code you
were sent. Click “Continue” when done. You may be automatically redirected to the sign in screen below after
you enter the code (even if you don't click the “Continue” button).
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Step 5: You should see a message indicating your account was created. You will need to enter your
username or email address and your password and click the “Sign in” button.
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Step 6: You should now be signed into your new GitHub account.
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Step 7: For security purposes, you should enable Two Factor Authentication for you GitHub account as
soon as you set it up. Click the icon on the top right of the screen to access the account settings.
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Step 8: On the drop down menu that appears, choose “Settings.”
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Step 9: On the left hand menu bar, select the “Password and authentication” option.
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Step 10: Scroll down on the main screen until you see the “Two-factor authentication” section. Click
the “Enable two-factor authentication” button.
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Step 11: You will be prompted with an option to scan a QR Code to add to the authenticator on your
mobile phone. The author uses Microsoft Authenticator. Please refer to your authenticator application for
more information on how to add a new account. If you use MS Authenticator, it will add the account as GitHub
and show the account name. This allows you to keep your GitHub accounts separate if you have more than one
GitHub account with two factor authentication enabled on the same Authenticator application. Once your
authenticator app is working, enter the code from the application in the box that says “Verify the code from
the app” and click “Continue.” Note that GitHub also allows for SMS Two-Factor authentication as an option
at the bottom of the screen if you don’t want to use an authenticator application.
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Step 12: Note you may be redirected to this screen after entering the authenticator code without
pressing the “Continue” button. You will be presented with a list of recovery codes. Please keep these in a
safe location as you may need them to access your GitHub account in the event that your authentication
device is unavailable. Note that you need to click the “Download” button to unlock the “I have saved my
recovery codes” button to proceed. You should receive an email indicating the need to download these
recovery codes.
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Step 13: You have now enabled two factor authentication for your GitHub account. You should see a
confirmation screen similar to the one below that provides additional options if you wish to enable them.
Click "Done" to proceed.
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Step 14: You now need to create a repository. Some users may want to make their GitHub Repositories
public, other users (including the author) may want to keep their Repositories private. Please
note that future step-by-step guides (such as how to connect Visual Studio Code to GitHub) assume you have
set your GitHub Repository to private per the instructions in this section. When you click the “Done” button
above, you should be taken back to the “Settings” screen. Click the “Repositories” option on the left menu.
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Step 15: You should see a screen that shows you do not currently have any repositories, unless you
have previously made one. There is an option to create a new repository, click the “create one” link. Note
the author is using the default “main” branch name.
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Step 16: Enter a name for your repository. Note the default owner is the GitHub account you created.
Select the “private” option and, if you want, select the “Add a README file” option. The author selected
both options. While you can selection options for “gitignore” and choosing a license, the author did not do
so for this document. Click “Create repository” when done.
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Step 17: You should see a screen showing your newly created repository. Note the author has blocked
out the name of the repository and account for security purposes. Now that you have created a private
repository, you can move on to the next step by step guide: Step By Step —
Install Visual Studio Code.
