Sign Up for GitHub: From the Homepage to Your Dashboard (with Device Email Verification)

In one line: Go to github.com, click Sign up, fill in your email / password / username, then complete device verification with a code from your inbox — and you’re in the GitHub dashboard.

Keywords: GitHub, sign up, create account, Create your free account, Username, Device verification, verification code, Dashboard, account menu, Settings

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Why do you need a GitHub account?

GitHub is the most widely used code-hosting platform in the world. On LaunchDock, the first step of many tutorials — deploying a site, wiring up a service, using the gh CLI, putting a project in the cloud — assumes you already have a GitHub account. This article clears that “prerequisite of prerequisites” once, so later tutorials can pick up right where this leaves off.

Signing up is completely free and takes about 5 minutes.

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Step 1: Go to the GitHub homepage and click Sign up

Open github.com. The top-right has Sign in and Sign up. On your first visit, click Sign up.

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Step 2: Fill in the sign-up form

On the Create your free account page, fill in:

• Email: an inbox you check (you’ll receive a verification code here).
• Password: at least 15 characters, or 8+ characters that include a number and a lowercase letter.
• Username: your public handle, unique across GitHub — it appears in your URL github.com/your-name.
• Your Country/Region: where you are (Taiwan in this example).

You can also click Continue with Google／Apple to sign up with an existing account and skip setting a password. When done, click Create account.

🚨 Username says “already taken”

GitHub usernames are globally unique, and common names are nearly all gone. Adding a number, an underscore, or a project suffix (e.g. yourname-dev) usually works. This name shows up in the URL of every repo you create, so pick one you’re happy to keep long-term.

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Step 3: Complete device email verification

To confirm it’s really you, GitHub emails a verification code to the address you just entered. Open your inbox, copy the code, paste it into the Device Verification Code field, and click Verify.

🚨 No verification email?

1. Check spam / the Promotions tab first: the sender is [email protected], subject like “[GitHub] Please verify your device.”
2. Wait 1–2 minutes: the email is occasionally delayed.
3. Still nothing → there’s a Re-send the authentication code link near the bottom of the page.
4. The code expires (the page shows the expiry time) — if it lapses, request a fresh one rather than reusing the old code.

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Step 4: Land on your GitHub Dashboard

Once verified, you’re logged in and see your Dashboard: “Create your first project” on the left, your activity feed in the middle. This is the starting point for everything you’ll do next.

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Step 5: Get to know the account menu (top-right)

Clicking your avatar in the top-right opens the account menu — the place you’ll come back to most:

• Your repositories: every project you create.
• Settings: account settings (change password, set up SSH/tokens, enable two-factor — all here).
• Sign out: log out.

💡 When a later tutorial says “go to Settings” or “in your repository,” the entry point is this menu.

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Recap

• Go to github.com, click Sign up, and fill in your email / password / globally unique Username.
• GitHub emails a verification code; enter it in Device Verification Code to finish device verification. No email? Check spam, then re-send.
• After login you see the Dashboard — everything starts here.
• The avatar menu in the top-right leads to Your repositories and Settings, the spots you’ll return to most.