Create a new Git repo

TFS 2017 | TFS 2015 | TFS 2013

Visual Studio 2019 | Visual Studio 2017 | Visual Studio 2015

A Git repository, or repo, tracks changes to files within a folder. You can create any number of local Git repos on your computer, each stored in its own folder. Each Git repo that you create is independent of other Git repos, so changes you make in one repo won't affect the others.

A Git repo stores every version of every file in the repo, unless you tell Git to ignore a file. Git saves file versions efficiently, so storing a large number of versions doesn't necessarily require a lot of disk space. Git supports comparing file versions, merging different versions, switching between versions, and much more. You can use Git to manage your source code, regardless of whether your code files are inside or outside of a Visual Studio solution. To share your work, you can connect your local Git repo to a remote Git repo that others can access. The remote repo can be an Azure Repos Git repo, a GitHub repo, or other hosted Git repo.

This article provides procedures for the following tasks:

• Create a local Git repo from a new solution
• Create a local Git repo from an existing solution
• Create a local Git repo in an empty folder
• Connect a local Git repo to an Azure Repos Git repo
• Connect a local Git repo to a GitHub repo

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

Prerequisites for access to Azure Repos

• To view code, you must be a member of an Azure DevOps project with Basic access or higher. If you aren't a project member, get added.

• To clone or contribute to code, you must be a member of the Contributors security group or have the corresponding permissions.

Create a local Git repo from a new solution

Create a local Git repo when you create a new Visual Studio solution.

Visual Studio 2019

Visual Studio 2019 doesn't support creating a new Git repo when creating a solution. Instead, create your Visual Studio solution, then follow the steps in Create a local Git repo from an existing solution.

Visual Studio 2017 & earlier

Note

Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 and later versions provide a new Git menu for managing the Git workflow with less context switching than Team Explorer. Procedures provided in this article under the Visual Studio 2019 tab provide information for using the Git experience as well as Team Explorer. To learn more, see Side-by-side comparison of Git and Team Explorer.

Create a new Git repo for your new Visual Studio solution by selecting Create new Git repository when creating the solution:

Git Command Line

Git command line doesn't support creating a new Visual Studio solution. Instead, create your new solution using Visual Studio, then follow the steps in Create a local Git repo from an existing solution.

Create a local Git repo from an existing solution

Create a local Git repo to track file changes in your existing Visual Studio solution.

Visual Studio 2019

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the solution name, or right-click any item in the Folder view of Solution Explorer, and then select 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.

   

   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.

   

2. 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.

   

   Team Explorer doesn't launch the Create a Git repository window, and assumes you want a local Git repo.

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.

Visual Studio 2017 & earlier

To create a repo from an existing solution not in version control, select the Publish button in the bottom-right of the lower status bar . This creates a new Git repo in the same directory as your solution and opens up the Publish view in Team Explorer so you can push your code to Azure Repos or another remote Git repository.

Git Command Line

1. If you haven't already, download and install Git. When prompted during the install, enable Git Credential Manager.

2. At the command prompt, go to the root folder that contains your existing 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.

   > git init
   > git add .
   > git commit -m "first commit"
   > git branch -m main
   

Create a local Git repo in an empty folder

Visual Studio 2019

You can create a new local repo in an empty folder from Team Explorer.

1. Under Local Git Repositories in the Connect view of Team Explorer, choose New.

   

2. Enter a folder path where the repo will be created. The specified folder must be empty, or not exist. Choose Create.

   

3. You've now created a new local Git repo. To view the folder contents, right-click the new repo entry and select Open in File Explorer.

   

   Your new local Git repo only contains Git resources.

   

Visual Studio 2017 & earlier

1. Open the Connect view in Team Explorer by choosing Projects then Manage Connections from the context menu.

2. Under Local Git Repositories, select New and enter a folder where the repo will be created. This directory must be empty.

3. Select Create to create the repo.

   

Git Command Line

1. If you haven't already, download and install Git. When prompted during the install, enable Git Credential Manager.

2. At the command prompt, go to the empty folder and run the following command to create a new local Git repo.

   > git init
   

3. When you've added files to the folder, add them to the Git repo by running the following commands.

   > git add .
   > git commit -m "first commit"
   > git branch -m main
   

Connect a local Git repo to an Azure Repos Git repo

You can share your code with others by connecting your local Git repo to an Azure Repos Git repo.

Visual Studio 2019

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 use Git features from either interface interchangeably. Below, we provide a side-by-side comparison for publishing your work to an Azure Repos Git repo.

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.

Visual Studio Git

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the solution name, or right-click any item in the Folder view of Solution Explorer and then select Push to Git service to launch the Create a Git repository window.

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

2. 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.
   

3. In your Azure DevOps project, create an empty Git repo without a README file. Copy the clone URL from the Clone Repository popup.

4. 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.

Visual Studio Team Explorer

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

2. Choose your Azure DevOps account, organization, and a repo name, and then select Publish Repository.

This step creates a new project in your Azure DevOps account 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 repo. You can view your code on the web by selecting See it on the web.

Visual Studio 2017 & earlier

To connect a local repository to a hosted remote Git repository to share your work, go the Settings page in Team Explorer. Select Repository Settings. Under Remotes, select Add.

Enter origin in the Name field and enter the clone URL for your repo in the Fetch field. Make sure that Push matches fetch is checked and select Save.

Git Command Line

Note

You can also create an Azure Repos Git repo from the command line by using the Azure CLI.

1. 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.

2. In your Azure DevOps project, create an empty Git repo without a README file. Copy the clone URL from the Clone Repository popup.

   

3. 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.

   > git remote add origin <clone URL>
   > git push -u origin main
   

   Your code is now published to the main branch of then Azure Repos Git repo.

Connect a local Git repo to a GitHub repo

You can also share your code with others by connecting your local Git repo to a GitHub repo.

Visual Studio 2019

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 use Git features from either interface interchangeably. Below, we provide a side-by-side comparison for publishing your work to a GitHub repo.

Visual Studio Git

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the solution name, or right-click any item in the Folder view of Solution Explorer, and then select Push to Git service to launch the Create a Git repository window.

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

2. In the Create a Git repository window, choose GitHub, select your GitHub account, owner name, and a new repo name, and then choose Push.

This step creates a new repo in your GitHub account with content from your local repo.

Visual Studio Team Explorer

1. In the Publish to GitHub section of the Synchronization view in Team Explorer, select your GitHub account, owner name, and a new repo name, and then choose Publish.

This step creates a new repo in your GitHub account with content from your local repo.

Visual Studio 2017 & earlier

To connect a local repository to a hosted remote Git repository to share your work, go the Settings page in Team Explorer. Select Repository Settings. Under Remotes, select Add.

Enter origin in the Name field and enter the clone URL for your repo in the Fetch field. Make sure that Push matches fetch is checked and select Save.

Git Command Line

Note

You can also create a GitHub repo from the command line by using the GitHub CLI.

1. Open a browser and navigate to your GitHub account. If you don't have a GitHub account yet, create one.

2. In your GitHub account, create an empty Git repo without added files. Copy the clone URL from the Quick setup page.

   

3. To publish your local commit to GitHub, run the following commands at the command prompt in your local git repo folder, using the clone URL from the previous step.

   > git remote add origin <clone URL>
   > git push -u origin main
   

   Your code is now published to the main branch of your GitHub repo.

Next steps

Save work with commits

Related articles

• New to Git repos? Learn more