
Cloning a project from Azure DevOps to Visual Studio is a straightforward process that can be completed in a few steps.
First, you'll need to have the Azure DevOps project URL and the Visual Studio version installed on your computer.
To begin, open Visual Studio and navigate to the "Team" menu, then select "Clone a Repository" from the dropdown list.
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Prerequisites
To clone a project from Azure DevOps to Visual Studio, you'll need to have a few things in place.
You'll need to have Visual Studio installed on your computer.
A GitHub user account is also required, but it's not directly related to Azure DevOps.
To get started, you'll need to have Visual Studio installed and a GitHub user account.
Here are the specific requirements:
- Visual Studio installed
- A GitHub user account
Clone a Repo
To clone a repository from Azure DevOps to Visual Studio, you can follow these steps.
Open Visual Studio, and then select Clone a repository. From the Browse a repository section, select Azure DevOps. You can then follow the prompts to sign in to your account and browse to the Azure DevOps Server that hosts the files you're looking for.
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You can clone an Azure DevOps repository with Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 or later by opening the start window, selecting Clone a repository, and then selecting Azure DevOps. If you see a sign-in window, sign in to your account, and in the Connect to a Project dialog box, choose the repo that you want to connect to, and then select Clone.
Alternatively, you can use the Git menu to clone a repository. From the Git menu, select Clone Repository, and then in the Browse a repository section of the Clone a repository dialog box, select Azure DevOps. A Connect to a Project dialog box appears, and you can follow the prompts to sign in to your Azure account and browse to the Azure DevOps Server that hosts the files you're looking for.
The format for the project URL in Azure DevOps Services is dev.azure.com/{your organization}/{your project}. However, the previous format that references the visualstudio.com format is still supported.
You can also clone a repository from the command line. Open the command prompt, go to the folder where you want the code stored on your local computer, and then run the command git clone followed by the clone URL.
Here's a summary of the steps to clone a repository from Azure DevOps to Visual Studio:
Import and Sync
Once you have cloned your project from Azure DevOps to Visual Studio, it's essential to import and sync your local repository with the remote one.
You can use the Git menu to select Fetch, Pull, Push, and Sync, or use the buttons in the Git Changes window to achieve the same results.
Fetch downloads remote commits that aren't in your local branch, but doesn't merge them.
In Team Explorer, you can select Home and choose Sync to open Synchronization.
To pull changes made by others to your local branch, switch to the branch where you want to download the changes, and then use the command `git pull`.
The Git Changes window provides a simple way to keep your local branch current with its remote counterpart using the Fetch, Pull, Push, and Sync buttons.
Here's a quick rundown of what each of these options does:
- Fetch: Downloads remote commits that aren't in your local branch, but doesn't merge them.
- Pull: Performs a fetch and then merges the downloaded commits into your local branch.
- Push: Uploads your unpushed commits to the remote repository, which adds them to the corresponding remote branch.
- Sync: Performs a Pull then a Push.
You can also use the two Pull links in the Incoming Commits section of Team Explorer to download the latest changes to your branch.
Publish and Pull
To keep your local branches in sync with their remote counterparts, you can pull commits created by others. You can do this by periodically switching to your main branch and pulling new commits to keep it current with the remote main branch.
In Visual Studio, you can find Fetch and Pull links in different views and in the Git menu on the menu bar. They all do the same thing—fetch or pull from the remote repo to the current branch of the local repo.
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: fetch downloads remote commits that aren't in your local branch, but won't merge them into your local branch.
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Publish Your Code
Once you've created a GitHub repository, you're ready to publish your code. This is as simple as clicking the "Publish" button, which will create a new branch and make it available for others to view.

The published code is stored in the repository's root directory, just like any other file. You can also use the `git push` command to manually publish your code, but the "Publish" button is a much quicker and more convenient option.
By default, the published code is available to the public, but you can change this setting to make it private if needed. This is a great way to keep your code secure and only share it with trusted collaborators.
You can also use GitHub's built-in features to create a new release, which allows you to bundle up your code and make it easily downloadable by others.
Pull Changes
In Visual Studio, you can find the Fetch and Pull links in different views and in the Git menu on the menu bar.
These links all do the same thing - fetch or pull from the remote repo to the current branch of the local repo. You can keep your local branches in sync with their remote counterparts by pulling commits created by others.
To do this, you can use the Git Changes window. Check for the latest commits on the remote branch by using the down-arrow fetch link, then selecting the outgoing/incoming link to open the Git Repository window.
Fetch downloads remote commits that aren't in your local branch, but won't merge them into your local branch. Fetched commits show up in the Incoming Commits section of the Git Repository window. You can double-click a fetched commit to view its file changes.
Here's a step-by-step guide to pull changes using the Git Changes window:
- Fetch remote commits that aren't in your local branch by using the down-arrow fetch link.
- Select the outgoing/incoming link to open the Git Repository window.
- Double-click a fetched commit to view its file changes.
- Choose Pull to merge the fetched remote commits into your local repo.
Alternatively, you can use Team Explorer to pull changes. Select Home and choose Sync to open 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.
Here's a step-by-step guide to pull changes using Team Explorer:
- Select Home and choose Sync to open the Synchronization view.
- Use the Fetch link to preview the latest changes on the remote branch.
- Double-click a commit to view its file changes.
- Choose Pull to merge the fetched remote commits into your local repo.
If you want to download new commits from the Azure Repos Git repo without merging them into your local repo, you can run the following command at the command prompt in your local git repo folder:
Visual Studio
To clone a project from Azure DevOps to Visual Studio, you'll first need to open Visual Studio 2019 version 16.7 or earlier.
Open Visual Studio 2019 version 16.7 or earlier, and on the start window, select Clone or check out code.
You'll then enter or type the repository location, and select Clone.
Visual Studio will open the project from the repo, and if you have a solution file available, it appears in the Solutions and Folders flyout menu.
To open your solution, select it from the flyout menu, and Visual Studio will open your solution.
If you don't have a solution file in your repo, the flyout menu will say No Solutions Found, but you can double-click any file from the folder menu to open it in the Visual Studio editor.
Start coding!
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Migrate and Mirror
To migrate and mirror a repository from Azure DevOps to Visual Studio, you'll need to use the Git command line. Run the command `git clone --mirror` followed by the Clone URL from your Azure DevOps repository, as shown in Example 1. This will create a mirror of the repository on your local machine.
The `--mirror` flag is redundant if the remote repository is bare, but it's a safe and easy way to set up the remote. You can also use Visual Studio to browse to and clone an Azure DevOps repository, as explained in Example 2.
Here's a step-by-step guide to mirroring a repository using the Git command line:
- Open a Developer Command Prompt and navigate to your local repository.
- Run the command `git clone --mirror https://demo-fabrikam.visualstudio.com/DefaultCollection/Fabrikam/_git/MigrationDemo`
- This will create a mirror of the repository on your local machine.
Alternatively, you can use Visual Studio to browse to and clone an Azure DevOps repository. The process differs depending on the version of Visual Studio you're using, as shown in Example 3.
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