Git became the default revision control system with the update of Visual Studio 2019 to version 16.8 in November 2020. I'm aware of two main ways to start a git command prompt using 16.8 or newer:
- Right click the solution and choose Open in Terminal. This starts a PowerShell instance which docks (by default) at the bottom of Visual Studio and can be used to invoke system git.
- Git -> Open Repository in -> Command Prompt from the main menu (the top level Git menu is between the View and Project menus) opens a cmd.exe instance which also uses the system git installation.
Other methods of access include the options under Tools -> Command Line in the main menu. Starting a git command prompt through Team Explorer was removed Visual Studio 16.8. A functionality moved message is displayed instead.
As of 16.9.1, Visual Studio does not check that a system git installation is present (in C:\Program Files\Git by default). If no system git has been installed by the Git for Windows Visual Studio component or some other tool neither of the pathways described here will work. Thus, this part of Visual Studio's functionality can potentially be broken out of the box.