Cloning and Opening a Repository · AI University by Securafy

Visual Studio has Git support built directly in — no separate Git client required for everyday work, though the actual git command line is still there underneath if you ever need it.

Clone a repository straight from the Start Window. Choose Clone a repository, paste a repo URL (GitHub, Azure DevOps, GitLab, anywhere), pick a local folder, and Visual Studio downloads it and opens the solution automatically if one exists.

The Git menu and Git Changes window are your two main entry points. The top-level Git menu has repository-level actions (clone, fetch, pull, manage branches). The Git Changes window (View → Git Changes) is where you'll spend most of your time day-to-day — it shows exactly what's changed, staged or not, with a commit message box right there.

The status bar shows your current branch, live. Bottom of the Visual Studio window — click it for a quick menu to switch branches, create a new one, or see pending changes, without opening a separate panel.

Opening an existing local repo (one you didn't clone through Visual Studio) works the same as opening any project — Visual Studio detects the .git folder automatically and turns on all the same Git features.

Why this matters for you

Everything in the rest of this course happens through the same two entry points — the Git menu and the Git Changes window — so getting comfortable with where they live now makes the rest of this course faster to absorb.

▶️ Before the next lesson

If your current project isn't already a Git repository, right-click the solution in Solution Explorer → Add Solution to Source Control — enables everything covered in this course on a project you already have.