How to fix fatal: bad config line in Git

The error message tells you exactly where the problem is. Note the file path and line number:

fatal: bad config line 3 in file /home/user/.gitconfig

In this example, line 3 of ~/.gitconfig has the issue. Open the file to inspect:

# View the file with line numbers
cat -n ~/.gitconfig

# Or use your preferred editor
nano ~/.gitconfig
code ~/.gitconfig

Often the problem is invisible characters that look fine but break parsing. Use cat -A to reveal hidden characters:

cat -A ~/.gitconfig

Look for:
- ^M at line endings (Windows carriage returns)
- ^@ or M-^@ (NULL characters)
- Extra whitespace or tabs where there should not be any
- Non-ASCII characters in section names or keys

If the file appears empty but has content, or shows strange characters, that is likely the problem.

If you edited the config file with Mac TextEdit or certain other editors, they may have converted standard double quotes to curly 'smart' quotes:

Bad (curly quotes):

[user]
    email = "[email protected]"

Good (straight quotes):

[user]
    email = "[email protected]"

Open the file in a plain text editor (VS Code, nano, vim) and replace any curly quotes with standard ASCII quotes. In VS Code, use Find and Replace with:
- Find: [“”] (regex mode)
- Replace: "

Git config files must follow INI format with sections and key-value pairs. A common mistake is writing Git commands directly into the file:

Wrong:

git config core.editor "nano"

Correct:

[core]
    editor = nano

Ensure every section header has both opening [ and closing ] brackets, and values are on their own lines with key = value format.

If you have Windows paths in your config, backslashes need to be escaped or replaced:

Wrong:

[core]
    editor = C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe

Correct (escaped backslashes):

[core]
    editor = C:\\Program Files\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe

Also correct (forward slashes):

[core]
    editor = C:/Program Files/Notepad++/notepad++.exe

Or use quotes with single backslashes:

[core]
    editor = "C:\\Program Files\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe"

If you cannot spot the issue visually, comment out sections until Git works:

# Comment out all lines with # and test
git config --global --list

# If that works, uncomment sections one at a time
# to isolate which section causes the error

Alternatively, rename the config file and recreate it:

mv ~/.gitconfig ~/.gitconfig.backup
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

Then compare the new working config with your backup to find differences.

If the file is severely corrupted, the fastest fix is to recreate it:

# Backup the old config
mv ~/.gitconfig ~/.gitconfig.old

# Create a fresh config with essential settings
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"

For repository-local config issues (.git/config):

# If no commits exist, reinitialize
rm -rf .git
git init

# If commits exist, copy config from another working repo
# or re-clone from remote

After making changes, verify Git can read the config:

# List all config values (should work without errors)
git config --global --list

# Check repository-specific config
git config --local --list

# Run a simple Git command
git status

If these commands run without the 'bad config line' error, the issue is resolved.