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Migrate from TFVC to Git

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Team Foundation Server (TFS), renamed Azure DevOps Server in 2019, is a set of tools developed by Microsoft which also includes Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC), a centralized version control system similar to Git.

In this document, we focus on the TFVC to Git migration.

TFVC vs Git

The main differences between TFVC and Git are:

  • Git is distributed: While TFVC is centralized using a client-server architecture, Git is distributed. This translates to Git having a more flexible workflow since you work with a copy of the entire repository. This allows you to quickly switch branches or merge, for example, without needing to communicate with a remote server.
  • Storage: Changes in a centralized version control system are per file (changeset), while in Git a committed file is stored in its entirety (snapshot). That means that it is very easy to revert or undo a whole change in Git.

For more information, see:

Why migrate

Advantages of migrating to Git/GitLab:

  • No licensing costs: Git is open source, while TFVC is proprietary.
  • Shorter learning curve: Git has a big community and a vast number of tutorials to get you started (see our Git topic).
  • Integration with modern tools: After migrating to Git and GitLab, you have an open source, end-to-end software development platform with built-in version control, issue tracking, code review, CI/CD, and more.

How to migrate

Migration options from TFVC to Git depend on your operating system.