title	titleSuffix	description	ms.assetid	ms.service	toc	ms.topic	ms.date	monikerRange	ms.subservice
Share your code with Git using Visual Studio 2015	Azure Repos	Learn how to share your Visual Studio solution with others by hosting your code in a Git repository in Azure Repos.	0c1dc48e-6f52-499d-a03e-6361c9a838dd	azure-devops-repos	show	tutorial	10/14/2022	<= azure-devops	azure-devops-repos-git

Share your code with Azure Repos and Visual Studio

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops] [!INCLUDE version-vs-gt-eq-2019]

Share your Visual Studio solution with others by hosting your code in an Azure Repos Git repository. You can use Visual Studio to manage Azure Repos Git repositories or GitHub repositories. This article provides procedures for the following tasks:

[!div class="checklist"]

Add a project or solution to a local Git repository

Publish your code to an Azure Repos Git repository or GitHub repository

Review your code changes before publishing

Link work items to your commits

Commit and push updates

Pull changes from the main branch of your repository

To clone a GitHub repository, get the clone URL as described in Cloning a repository.

For an overview of the Git workflow, see Azure Repos Git tutorial.

Prerequisites

[!INCLUDE azure-repos-prerequisites]

To learn more about permissions and access, see Default Git repository and branch permissions and About access levels.

[!INCLUDE temp]

Add a project or solution to a new local Git repository

The first step to sharing your Visual Studio solution with others using Git is to create a local Git repo for your code. If it's your first time using Visual Studio to connect to Azure Repos, see Connect to a project from Visual Studio for details.

Visual Studio 2022

Create a new local Git repo for your Visual Studio solution, by right-clicking the solution name in Solution Explorer, and then selecting Create Git Repository. Or, choose Add to Source Control on the status bar in the lower right-hand corner of Visual Studio, and then select Git. If you don't see these options, then your code is already in a Git repo.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-solution-explorer.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create Git repository' option in the Solution Explorer context menu in Visual Studio 2022." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-solution-explorer-lrg.png":::

Or, choose Git > Create Git Repository from the menu bar to launch the Create a Git repository window. If you don't see this option, then your code is already in a Git repo.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-git-menu.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create Git Repository' option in the Git menu from the menu bar of Visual Studio 2022." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-git-menu-lrg.png":::
This step only applies to the Visual Studio Git version control experience: in the Create a Git repository window, choose Local only, verify the local path is correct, and then choose Create.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2022/create-git-repository-window-inline.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create a Git repository' window with the 'Local only' option selected in Visual Studio 2022." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2022/create-git-repository-window-expanded.png":::

You've now created a local Git repo in the Visual Studio solution folder and committed your code into that repo. Your local Git repo contains both your Visual Studio solution and Git resources.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/file-explorer-git-folder.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Git folder, Git ignore file, and Git attributes file in Windows file explorer." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/file-explorer-git-folder-lrg.png":::

Visual Studio 2019 - Git menu

Create a new local Git repo for your Visual Studio solution, by right-clicking the solution name in Solution Explorer, and then selecting Create Git Repository. Or, choose Add to Source Control on the status bar in the lower right-hand corner of Visual Studio, and then select Git. If you don't see these options, then your code is already in a Git repo.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-solution-explorer.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create Git repository' option in the Solution Explorer context menu in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-solution-explorer-lrg.png":::

Or, choose Git > Create Git Repository from the menu bar to launch the Create a Git repository window. If you don't see this option, then your code is already in a Git repo.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-git-menu.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create Git Repository' option in the Git menu from the menu bar of Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/create-git-repository-git-menu-lrg.png":::
This step only applies to the Visual Studio Git version control experience: in the Create a Git repository window, choose Local only, verify the local path is correct, and then choose Create.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/create-git-repository-window.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create a Git repository' window with the 'Local only' option selected in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/create-git-repository-window-lrg.png":::

You've now created a local Git repo in the Visual Studio solution folder and committed your code into that repo. Your local Git repo contains both your Visual Studio solution and Git resources.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/file-explorer-git-folder.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Git folder, Git ignore file, and Git attributes file in Windows file explorer." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/file-explorer-git-folder-lrg.png":::

Visual Studio 2019 - Team Explorer

These tasks are not supported through Team Explorer.

Git Command Line

Download and install Git. When prompted during the install, enable Git Credential Manager.
At the command prompt, go to the root folder that contains your Visual Studio solution and run the following commands. These commands create a local Git repo in the Visual Studio solution folder and commit your code into that repo.

[!div class="tabbedCodeSnippets"]
```
> git init
> git commit -am "first commit"
> git branch -m main
```
Your local Git repo now contains both your Visual Studio solution and Git resources.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/git-cli/file-explorer-git-solution-folder.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Git folder, Git ignore file, and Git attributes file in Windows file explorer.":::

Publish your code

You can share your work with others by publishing your local Git repo to an Azure Repos Git repo.

Visual Studio 2022

Visual Studio 2022 provides a Git version control experience by using the Git menu, Git Changes, and through context menus in Solution Explorer. Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 also offers the Team Explorer Git user interface. For more information, see the Visual Studio 2019 - Team Explorer tab.

Connect to an Azure DevOps repo by right-clicking the solution name in Solution Explorer, and then selecting Push to Git service to launch the Create a Git repository window.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2022/push-to-git-service-inline.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Push to Git service' menu option in the Solution Explorer context menu in Visual Studio 2022." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2022/push-to-git-service-expanded.png":::

Or, choose Git > Push to Git service from the menu bar to launch the Create a Git repository window.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-git-menu.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Push to Git service' option in the in Visual Studio 2022 context menu." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-git-menu-lrg.png":::
In the Create a Git repository dialog, select GitHub. Enter any required values under Create a new GitHub repository. Then select Push.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2022/create-new-git-repository-inline.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create a Git repository' dialog for Visual Studio 2022." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2022/create-new-git-repository-expanded.png":::

You can verify that the repo is created by going to GitHub and searching for your repo name in your account.

Visual Studio 2019 - Git menu

Visual Studio 2019 provides a Git version control experience by using the Git menu, Git Changes, and through context menus in Solution Explorer.

Connect to an Azure DevOps repo by right-clicking the solution name in Solution Explorer, and then selecting Push to Git service to launch the Create a Git repository window.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-solution-explorer.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Push to Git service' menu option in the Git menu on the menu bar in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-solution-explorer-lrg.png":::

Or, choose Git > Push to Git service from the menu bar to launch the Create a Git repository window.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-git-menu.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Push to Git service' option in the in Visual Studio 2019 context menu." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-git-menu-lrg.png":::
Open a browser and navigate to your Azure DevOps project by using a URL in the form of https://dev.azure.com/<OrganizationName>/<ProjectName>. If you don't have a project yet, create one.
In your Azure DevOps project, Create an empty Git repo without a README file. Copy the clone URL from the Clone Repository popup.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/clone-repository-popup.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Clone Repository' popup from the Azure DevOps project site." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/clone-repository-popup-lrg.png":::
In the Create a Git repository window, choose Existing remote and enter the repo clone URL from the previous step, and then choose Push. For more information on how to create a new Azure DevOps repo, see Create a new Git repo in your project.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/create-git-repository-window-remote.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Create a Git repository' window, with the URL of an empty Azure repo, in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/create-git-repository-window-remote-lrg.png":::
The Git Changes window shows a confirmation message that your code is now in an Azure DevOps repo.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-git-changes.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Git Changes' window, with a confirmation message that your code is in 'Azure DevOps' repo, in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/git-experience/push-to-git-service-git-changes-lrg.png":::

[!INCLUDE project-urls]

Visual Studio 2019 - Team Explorer

Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 and later versions provides a Git version control experience while maintaining the Team Explorer Git user interface. To use Team Explorer, uncheck Tools > Options > Preview Features > New Git user experience from the menu bar. You can exercise Git features from either interface interchangeably. Below, we provide a side-by-side comparison for publishing your code.

Note

One advantage of connecting to a project through Team Explorer is you gain access to the Work Items hub. For an overview of Team Explorer features, see Navigate in Visual Studio Team Explorer.

In the Push to Azure Dev Ops Services section of the Synchronization view in Team Explorer, select the Publish Git Repo button.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/publish-git-repo-team-explorer.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Push' view of 'Team Explorer' in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/publish-git-repo-team-explorer-lrg.png":::
Choose your Azure DevOps organization and repo name, and then select Publish Repository.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/publish-git-repo-details-team-explorer.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the organization and repo name options and the 'Publish Repository' button in the 'Synchronization' view of 'Team Explorer' in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/publish-git-repo-details-team-explorer-lrg.png":::

This step creates a new project with the same name that you selected for the repo. To create the repo in an existing project, select Advanced next to the Repository name, and then choose a project.
Your code is now in a Azure Repos Git repository. You can view your code on the web by selecting See it on the web.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/view-git-repo-on-web.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'See it on the web' link in the 'Home' view of 'Team Explorer' in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/view-git-repo-on-web-lrg.png":::

[!INCLUDE project-urls]

Git Command Line

Open a browser and navigate to your Azure DevOps project using a URL in the form of https://dev.azure.com/<OrganizationName>/<ProjectName>. If you don't have a project yet, create one.
In your Azure DevOps project, create an empty Git repo without a README file. Copy the clone URL from the Clone Repository popup.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/common/clone-repository-popup.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Clone Repository' popup from the Azure DevOps project site.":::
To publish your local commit to Azure repos, run the following commands at the command prompt in your local git repo folder, using the clone URL from the previous step.

[!div class="tabbedCodeSnippets"]
```
> git remote add origin <clone URL>
> git push -u origin main
```
Your code is now published to the main branch of an Azure Repos Git repository.

[!INCLUDE project-urls]

Review commit changes

It's good practice to review the code changes in your commit before publishing. Visual Studio provides a diff view that helps you see all the changes you've made since the previous commit.

Visual Studio 2022

[!INCLUDE Review commit changes]

Visual Studio 2019 - Git menu

[!INCLUDE Review commit changes]

Visual Studio 2019 - Team Explorer

To see what's changed in a commit, go to the Synchronization page in Team Explorer, right-click on any commit, and then choose View Commit Details to open the Git Details window.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/commit-sync-team-explorer.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of a commit in the Synchronization view of Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/commit-sync-team-explorer-lrg.png":::
In the Commit Details window, you can right-click on any file and select Compare with Previous to view the file changes made by the commit.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/git-details-window.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Compare with Previous' option in the 'Commit Details' window in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/git-details-window-lrg.png":::

Git Command Line

To show a diff view of the last commit in your current branch, run the following command at the command prompt in your local git repo folder.

[!div class="tabbedCodeSnippets"]

> git show

Link work items to your commits

As you develop your software, you can capture which commits support the completion of work items like Azure DevOps tasks or bug fixes. The audit trail of work items linked to commits lets your team understand how tasks and bugs were resolved.

Note

The #ID syntax is supported when you connect to an Azure Repos Git repository. If you connect to a GitHub repository, you can still link to work items, but must use the #ABID syntax, and have previously set up an Azure Boards-GitHub connection.

Visual Studio 2022

[!INCLUDE Link work items to your commits]

Visual Studio 2019 - Git menu

[!INCLUDE Link work items to your commits]

Visual Studio 2019 - Team Explorer

You can include work items in your commits through Related Work Items in the Changes view of Team Explorer.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/add-related-work-item-team-explorer.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of a work item linked to a commit in the Changes view of Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/add-related-work-item-team-explorer-lrg.png":::

You can also link work items to commits by adding #ID into the commit message. For example, the commit message "Fix bug #12 in the reporting tools" would link work item 12 to the commit when the commit is pushed to Azure Repos.

Git Command Line

You can link work items to commits by adding #ID into the commit message. For example, the commit message "Fix bug #12 in the reporting tools" would link work item 12 to the commit when the commit is pushed to Azure Repos. To test, make some code changes and run the following commands at the command prompt in your local git repo folder.

[!div class="tabbedCodeSnippets"]

> git commit -am "Fix bug #<work item ID>"
> git push

Push commit changes

Visual Studio 2022

[!INCLUDE Push commit changes]

Visual Studio 2019 - Git menu

[!INCLUDE Push commit changes]

Visual Studio 2019 - Team Explorer

As you write your code, your changes are automatically tracked by Visual Studio. When you're satisfied with your changes, you can save them in Git using a commit, and then push your commit to Azure Repos.

Open the Changes view of Team Explorer by selecting the Home button and choosing Changes. Or, select the pending changes icon on the status bar.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/changes.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Changes option in Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/changes-lrg.png":::
In the Git Changes window, enter a message that describes the changes, and then choose Commit All. Commit All commits unstaged changes and skips the staging area. You can choose to stage all files before committing by selecting the stage all + (plus) button at the top of the Changes section in the Git Changes window.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/commit-changes.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the 'Screenshot of commit message text and 'Commit All' button in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/commit-changes-lrg.png":::
To push one or more commits to Azure Repos, select Home and then choose Sync to open the Synchronization view in Team Explorer. Or, select the unpublished changes status bar icon ( on the status bar.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/sync.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Sync option in Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/sync-lrg.png":::
In the Synchronization view, choose Push to upload your commit to the remote repo. If this is your first push to the repo, you'll see the message: The current branch does not track a remote branch..., which lets you know that your commit was pushed to a new branch on the remote repo and that future commits pushed from the current branch will be uploaded to that remote branch.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/push-commit.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Push link in the Synchronization view of Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/push-commit-lrg.png":::

Git Command Line

To publish new commits from your current local branch to the corresponding branch in the Azure Repos Git repo, run the following command at the command prompt in your local git repo folder.

[!div class="tabbedCodeSnippets"]

> git push

Pull changes

You can keep your local branches in sync with their remote counterparts by pulling commits created by others. While you're working on your feature branch, it's a good idea to periodically switch to your main branch and pull new commits to keep it current with the remote main branch.

Note

In Visual Studio, Fetch and Pull links can be found in different views and in the Git menu on the menu bar. Those links all do the same thing—fetch or pull from the remote repo to the current branch of the local repo.

Visual Studio 2022

[!INCLUDE Pull changes]

Visual Studio 2019 - Git menu

[!INCLUDE Pull changes]

Visual Studio 2019 - Team Explorer

In Team Explorer, select Home and choose Sync to open the Synchronization view.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/sync.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Sync option in 'Team Explorer' in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/sync-lrg.png":::
In the Synchronization view, you can preview the latest changes on the remote branch by using the Fetch link. Fetch downloads remote commits that aren't in your local branch, but doesn't merge them. Fetched commits show up in the Incoming Commits section of the Synchronization view. You can double-click a commit to view its file changes.

:::image type="content" source="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/incoming-commits.png" border="true" alt-text="Screenshot of the Pull link in the Synchronization view of Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2019." lightbox="media/share-your-code-in-git-vs/visual-studio-2019/team-explorer/incoming-commits-lrg.png":::
Choose Pull to merge the fetched remote commits into your local repo. Pull performs a fetch and then merges the downloaded commits into your local branch.

Git Command Line

To download new commits from the Azure Repos Git repo without merging them into your local repo, run the following command at the command prompt in your local git repo folder.

[!div class="tabbedCodeSnippets"]

> git fetch

To download and merge new commits from the Azure Repos Git repo into the current branch of your local repo, run the following command.

[!div class="tabbedCodeSnippets"]

> git pull

FAQs

[!INCLUDE temp]

Q: Can I use the Git command prompt with Visual Studio?

A: Visual Studio's Team Explorer and the Git command-line work great together. Changes to your repos made in either tool will be reflected in the other. Make sure to install the latest release of Git for Windows, which has tools to help you connect to your Azure DevOps Services/TFS repos.

See the Azure Repos Git tutorial and the command reference for additional help using Git from the command line.

Next steps

[!div class="nextstepaction"] Set up a build Azure Repos Git tutorial

Files

share-your-code-in-git-vs.md

Latest commit

History

share-your-code-in-git-vs.md

File metadata and controls

Share your code with Azure Repos and Visual Studio

Prerequisites

Add a project or solution to a new local Git repository

Publish your code

Review commit changes

Link work items to your commits

Push commit changes

Pull changes

FAQs

Q: Can I use the Git command prompt with Visual Studio?

Next steps

Related articles