Commit history not showing on Github profile after adding and verifying correct email to new account.

[eleanorwiesler]

Question

I had a previous Github account with about 400 commits last year that I pushed to the main branch of a repository, and all have my correct email associated with them. This is my work email. I wanted to switch all of my commit history to my personal Github account so I removed the email from the old work account and added the correct email this week to my personal Github account and have verified it.

The commits still do not display on my profile graph after 48 hours, even after another removal and addition and reverification of the email address. I have done all the checks recommended online. My personal account is a member of the organization from work that has the repo where my commits have been pushed to main. Now in the repository it correctly displays my personal account as a contributor and displays my correct username next to all those previous commits. It just does not display on the contribution graph.

Online it says I am doing everything right and that the last thing I could do is ask someone from Support to rebuild my contribution graph. I've tried endless tickets and so on, but these services are only offered to Enterprise accounts. What should I do?

[hiltd2758]

there isn’t anything else you can do. GitHub does not reliably backfill contribution graphs for commits that were originally created under a different account, even if the email is later moved and verified. This is a known limitation, and support typically does not rebuild contribution graphs for personal accounts. The best option is to move forward and build contributions on the personal account going forward.

[withabhinay]

Answer

Short answer:

GitHub does NOT reliably backfill contribution graphs
for commits originally made under a different account.

Even if:

• You move the email
• You verify it
• The repo shows you correctly as contributor

The contribution graph may still not update.

Why

Contribution graphs are based on:

• Email used at commit time
• Account linked at commit time
• Internal GitHub processing

They are not always rebuilt retroactively.

Support usually does NOT rebuild graphs for personal accounts.

Reality Check

If the repo shows:

• Your correct username
• You as contributor

Then everything is technically linked.

The green squares just won’t backfill.

TL;DR

Commits are credited ✅
Graph may not update ❌
No real fix besides moving forward.

Build from here ....lessgoo

[techindro]

GitHub does not move your old commits (from last year) to your personal account's contribution graph just because you added the email now.

The username shows correctly in the repo → good!
But the green squares (graph) stay with the old work account history. GitHub doesn't backfill or rebuild old stuff when emails move between accounts.

What usually works (easy steps):

Wait a bit more (up to 1 week sometimes).
Make 1 new small commit to the main branch with your personal email → push it. This often forces the graph to refresh a little.
Check your settings → make sure "Include private contributions" is on (if any repos were private).

If you really want the old squares:

The only sure way is to rewrite history (change old commit emails to your personal one) and force-push.
→ Use tool like git filter-repo.
→ Warning: This changes commit IDs → bad for shared/team repos (breaks links, history for others).

Best & easiest choice for most people:
Leave it. Recruiters care more about the repo saying you're the contributor than perfect graph squares. The 400 commits are still there in the repo history.

That's it — no magic fix from support on free accounts