GitHub Contributions Not Showing on the Graph? Here's How to Fix It

Introduction

You might have experienced this frustrating situation. You contributed to a repository, pushed commits at the correct date and time, but GitHub does not show your contributions on the graph.

This isn’t the same as “GitHub showing the wrong date”, it’s about commits not appearing at all in your contribution activity.

Why This Happens

GitHub determines whether a commit counts as a contribution based on a few rules:

1. The commit must be made with the email associated with your GitHub account.
2. The commit must be pushed to a repository that is not a fork.
3. The commit must be on the default branch (main or master) or a branch merged into it.
4. GitHub tracks the commit date (AuthorDate), not when it was pushed.

Even if your commit satisfies these conditions, it may still not show due to subtle issues:

• The author email in Git does not match your GitHub account.
• The commit is on a branch that appears to be the default but for some reason GitHub hasn’t recognized it yet.
• The commit is very recent, and GitHub hasn’t refreshed the contributions graph yet (rare).

How to Fix Missing Contributions

If your commits are correct locally but not appearing, the solution is to ensure both the author information and commit dates are correct.

1. Check Your Git Config

Make sure your commits use the correct GitHub email:

git config user.name
git config user.email

Your user.email must match one of the emails in your GitHub account.

2. Interactive Rebase to Fix Commits

If multiple commits need fixing:

git rebase -i HEAD~N

• Replace N with the number of commits to rewrite.
• Change pick → edit for each commit you want to fix.
• Leave other commits untouched.

3. Amend Each Commit

When Git stops at a commit:

GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2026-02-18 21:25:24 +0530" \
git commit --amend --no-edit --date "2026-02-18 21:25:24 +0530"
git rebase --continue

• Repeat for each commit.
• Adjust the timestamp if needed (for contributions to show on the correct day).
• Ensure the author email matches your GitHub account.

4. Verify the Commit Dates

After the rebase finishes:

git log --pretty=fuller --date=local

Check that:

• AuthorDate is correct.
• The author email matches your GitHub account.
• The branch is the default or merged into default.

5. Push the Updated Branch

Since history was rewritten, force push is required:

git push origin main --force

After this, GitHub should recognize your commits and display them in the contributions graph.

Key Takeaways

• Missing contributions aren’t always a date issue email, branch, or repo type can prevent commits from showing.
• Even if your commits are on the default branch, GitHub may not show them if author/email or commit metadata is off.
• Rewriting commit history with correct author dates and email usually fixes the issue.
• Always verify locally before force-pushing rewritten commits.

Final Thoughts

GitHub’s contributions graph can be surprisingly strict, but understanding how it counts commits ensures your work is recognized. By checking:

• Author email
• Branch and merge status
• Commit dates

…and using interactive rebase when needed, you can fix missing contributions and make your GitHub graph accurately reflect your hard work.