View file annotations in Visual Studio

This topic describes how to work with file annotations in the Visual Studio IDE.

For an overview of file annotations, see View file annotations.

Open the annotations view

Use the Annotations view to check who has modified blocks of code and why. Each user’s deliveries are highlighted with the same color.

To view annotations in Visual Studio:

In Solution Explorer, right-click a file and select View Annotations. The Annotations view is displayed in a new tab.
In the left pane, hover over an item revision. A tooltip displays the following information:
- The item revision.
- The user who made the modification.
- The date the modification was made.
- Any related change request.
- Comments added by the user when the item revision was delivered.

To keep the tooltip in focus, press F2.

In Visual Studio, you can browse the contents of a specific item revision.

To view an item revision:

In Solution Explorer, right-click an item and select View Annotations. The Annotations view is displayed in a new tab.
In the left pane, select an item revision.
On the toolbar, select View Revision.

The item revision is displayed in a new tab.

In Visual Studio, you can open a change request that is related to an item revision.

To open a change request:

In Solution Explorer, right-click an item and select View Annotations. The Annotations view is displayed in a new tab.
In the left pane, select an item revision.
On the toolbar, click Open Related Requests and select the request.

The change request is displayed in a new view.

In Visual Studio, you can view and compare the differences between an item revision and its ancestor.

To view the differences between a revision and its ancestor:

In Solution Explorer, right-click an item and select View Annotations. The Annotations view is displayed in a new tab.
In the left pane, select an item revision.
On the toolbar, click Compare.

The item revisions are displayed in the default merge tool.