Visual Studio October update: compare commits to your working tree and bulk-resolve conflicts
The October Visual Studio 2026 update lets you compare an earlier commit with your current working tree, including unsaved edits in progress, and resolve merge conflicts across many files at once. It also adds a new Copilot Chat experience, Hot Exit, and keyboard tab reordering. These changes speed up everyday Git work.
Key points
- In Git Repository, right-click a commit and choose Compare with Working Tree to diff it against your current code, including uncommitted edits.
- Under Unmerged Changes, select multiple files, a folder, or the repository root, then use Keep All Current or Take All Incoming.
- Enable the new Copilot chat via Tools > Options > GitHub > Copilot > Copilot Chat, then restart Visual Studio.
- Hot Exit is off by default; turn it on under Projects and Solutions > General with the reopen-unsaved-documents option.
- Use Ctrl+Shift+PgUp and Ctrl+Shift+PgDn to reorder tabs, and remap Window.MoveTabLeft and Window.MoveTabRight if you prefer other keys.
The October Visual Studio update makes two Git workflows less tedious. From the commit history or the branch list in the Git Repository window, you can now compare any earlier commit with your working tree, covering both committed changes and edits you have not yet saved. That makes it easier to review a refactor spread over several commits or to see what changed since a version you know works.
The second change targets merge conflicts. Selecting several conflicted files, a folder, or the repository root under Unmerged Changes lets you apply Keep All Current or Take All Incoming to all of them in one step. Beyond Git, Hot Exit keeps unsaved new and existing files between sessions, and new keyboard shortcuts move tabs left, right, up, or down. Hot Exit is off by default and must be enabled in the options.
Real-world use
- Reviewing a refactor spread across several commits by diffing an older commit against your current working tree.
- Resolving a batch of merge conflicts from a long-lived feature branch by applying one side across a whole folder.
- Closing Visual Studio mid-task and resuming later with unsaved files and undo history intact.
Why it matters
Comparing a past commit with live edits and resolving many conflicts in one action removes repetitive Git work in Visual Studio. The new Copilot Chat experience is opt-in, so try it on a real task and report any issues through Send Feedback.