Introduction

The GitHub message push declined due to email privacy restrictions means GitHub refused the push because the commit author email would expose an email address you have chosen to keep private. This is not a Git error and not a repository-permission failure. It is GitHub enforcing your account's email privacy settings against the commit you are trying to publish.

Why GitHub Blocks the Push

GitHub offers a setting that keeps your personal email private and can also block command-line pushes that would expose it. When that block is enabled, GitHub checks the commit author email on the push and rejects it if it matches a private email on your account.

So the message usually means one of these things:

• your local Git user.email is set to a private personal address
• the commit was created earlier with that private address
• your account is configured to block pushes that expose private email addresses

Check Your Current Git Email

First inspect the email address your local Git config is using.

git config user.email
git config --global user.email

If the value is your personal address and your GitHub privacy block is enabled, that is usually the reason for the rejection.

Switch to Your GitHub noreply Address

The usual fix is to configure Git to use the GitHub-provided noreply address instead.

git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

You can set it only for the current repository if needed.

git config user.email "[email protected]"

After that, new commits will use the privacy-safe address.

Existing Commits May Need to Be Rewritten

Changing git config affects future commits, not commits that already exist in history. If the rejected push contains an earlier commit with the private email address, you need to rewrite that commit before pushing again.

For the most recent commit, an amend is often enough.

git commit --amend --reset-author

Then push again. If several commits are affected, a rebase or other history rewrite may be required.

Understand the Account Setting Behind It

On GitHub, the relevant account setting is the option to keep your email addresses private and to block command-line pushes that expose your email. If that block is enabled, GitHub is doing exactly what you asked it to do.

You can disable the block in account settings, but the safer fix is usually to keep privacy protection enabled and update your local commit email instead.

Confirm the Author Email in the Commit

If you want to verify what email is actually embedded in the last commit, inspect it directly.

git log -1 --format='%an <%ae>'

This is useful because the rejection is based on the commit metadata already recorded, not only on your current config values.

Common Pitfalls

A common mistake is changing git config user.email and then trying to push the same old commit again. The commit still contains the original author email until you rewrite it.

Another is assuming the message means your GitHub account lacks push permission. It usually has nothing to do with repository authorization.

Developers also sometimes disable the privacy block immediately instead of fixing their local email configuration, which defeats the point of the protection.

Summary

• The message means GitHub blocked the push to avoid exposing a private email address in commit metadata.
• Check the commit author email and your local Git user.email setting.
• Use your GitHub noreply address for future commits.
• Rewrite existing commits if they already contain the private email.
• The safest long-term fix is usually to keep the privacy block enabled and update your local Git configuration.