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Checkout a Git repository using a tag in VSCode

If you're working with Git repositories in Visual Studio Code, you might occasionally need to checkout a specific tag—perhaps to review a previous release, test an older version, or understand how the codebase looked at a particular milestone. While VSCode's built-in Git integration is powerful, checking out tags wasn't immediately obvious to me.

Let me walk you through the process.

What are Git tags?

Before diving in, a quick refresher: Git tags are references that point to specific commits in your repository's history. They're commonly used to mark release points (like v1.0.0, v2.1.3, etc.). Unlike branches, tags are meant to be immutable snapshots of your code at a particular moment in time.

Checkout a Git tag in VS Code

Method 1: Using the Command Palette

The quickest way to checkout a tag in VSCode is through the Command Palette:

  • Open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (Mac)
  • Type "Git: Checkout to..." and select it from the dropdown

  • Select the tag from the list that appears. Tags are typically shown with a tag icon or labeled clearly

 

VSCode will checkout the tag, putting your repository in a "detached HEAD" state (more on that in a moment).

Method 2: Using the Source Control Panel

You can also checkout tags through VSCode's Source Control interface:

  • Click on the Source Control icon in the Activity Bar (or press Ctrl+Shift+G)

 

  • Click on the branch name in the bottom-left corner of the VSCode window

 

  • Select your tag from the list of refs that appears

 

Could I do the same thing in Visual Studio?

Short answer; NO. I couldn’t find a way to do this directly from the IDE.

Of course you can fall back to the command line:

git clone <repo-url>

cd <repo-folder>

git checkout <tag-name>

An example:

git clone https://github.com/user/project.git

cd project

git checkout v1.2.0

Understanding "Detached HEAD" state

When you checkout a tag, Git will inform you that you're in a "detached HEAD" state. This sounds scarier than it is! It simply means you're not on a branch—you're viewing the repository at a specific point in time.

What this means for you:

  • You can browse the code, run builds, and test the tagged version
  • If you make changes and commit them, those commits won't belong to any branch
  • To save your work, you should create a new branch: git checkout -b new-branch-name
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