{"slug": "tortoisegit", "name": "TortoiseGit", "category": "git", "category_name": "Git and code hosting", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 8, "warners": 1, "score": 4.069, "rising": -1.64, "first": "2025-11-11", "latest": "2026-07-14", "why": "I do virtually everything through tortoisegit, and much prefer it over a CLI.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 2, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "spark": [2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I do virtually everything through tortoisegit, and much prefer it over a CLI.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "tortoisegit.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://tortoisegit.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["TortoiseGit"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 782554273, "item_id": 48909642, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48909642", "by": "WorldMaker", "date": "2026-07-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it is not yet as capable as things like Tortoise have been in the past", "excerpt": "One interesting new twist in the Windows 11 removes extension points/makes extension points harder to use is first class built-in git version control integration: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/advanced-settings/fe-version-control It is not as convenient and it is not yet as capable as things like Tortoise have been in the past, but it is still an interesting thing to see paths explored in Windows like tha", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Git history command deserves more attention"}, {"id": 782456144, "item_id": 48903509, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48903509", "by": "jonathanlydall", "date": "2026-07-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've found TortoiseGit to be spectacular", "excerpt": "I've been doing regular significant re-writes to my local Git commit history with relative ease for over a decade even without this new Git command. I'm convinced that a big part of people often finding Git and rebase difficult is a user interface issue, having to know all the correct command line options and having to make your own mental model of what's happening and what you want to do, all makes it difficult to g", "context": "", "use_case": "Windows Git GUI", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Git history command deserves more attention"}, {"id": 769988848, "item_id": 48124303, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48124303", "by": "Dwedit", "date": "2026-05-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use TortoiseGit, and that doesn't seem to care which service you are using.", "excerpt": "Is the tooling really centralized around Github? I use TortoiseGit, and that doesn't seem to care which service you are using. Although it does seem to have special authentication features specifically made to help you log in to Github.", "context": "", "use_case": "Git client for Windows", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo"}, {"id": 769397584, "item_id": 48087349, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48087349", "by": "gus_massa", "date": "2026-05-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use TortoiseGit for 99% of the git operations.", "excerpt": "I use TortoiseGit for 99% of the git operations. (And Git Cola on Linux)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily git operations", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beginners don't trust the command line"}, {"id": 737401904, "item_id": 46087619, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46087619", "by": "20k", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I do virtually everything through tortoisegit, and much prefer it over a CLI.", "excerpt": "I do virtually everything through tortoisegit, and much prefer it over a CLI. When you right click, you get this: https://i.postimg.cc/hG4g8pjp/tgit.png Which gives you basically everything you could ever possibly want. My main use cases for it vs a terminal interface are: 1. When you commit, you get this: https://i.postimg.cc/90YJBtz1/boaty.png Clicking the files brings up a diff, which makes pre commit reviews extr", "context": "Windows user, prefers GUI over CLI", "use_case": "Git GUI via context menu", "switched_from": "", "story": "WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 737438016, "item_id": 46089876, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46089876", "by": "prmoustache", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "I don't think there is anything you have shown that warrants sticking to Tortoise Git instead of any other IDE.", "excerpt": "Any modern IDE has those functionalities, and most of them run on Linux too. I don't think there is anything you have shown that warrants sticking to Tortoise Git instead of any other IDE. Also if you don't want to use an IDE Gnome's file manager nautilus supports scripts available on right click. This would allows you to run git commands from the file manager , show the information you need using [YAD](https://yad-g", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS"}]}], "who": [{"by": "20k", "context": "Windows user, prefers GUI over CLI", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46087619", "date": "2025-11-29"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["git client for windows", "windows git gui", "daily git operations", "git gui via context menu", "git context menu on windows", "git gui on windows"], "compared": [{"slug": "git-extensions", "name": "Git Extensions", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46045207", "title": "WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48901010", "title": "The Git history command deserves more attention", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48550693", "title": "The time the x86 emulator team found code so bad they fixed it during emulation", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48121266", "title": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48083740", "title": "Beginners don't trust the command line", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46445491", "title": "2025 was a disaster for Windows 11", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 782554273, "item_id": 48909642, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48909642", "by": "WorldMaker", "date": "2026-07-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it is not yet as capable as things like Tortoise have been in the past", "excerpt": "One interesting new twist in the Windows 11 removes extension points/makes extension points harder to use is first class built-in git version control integration: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/advanced-settings/fe-version-control It is not as convenient and it is not yet as capable as things like Tortoise have been in the past, but it is still an interesting thing to see paths explored in Windows like tha", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Git history command deserves more attention"}, {"id": 782456144, "item_id": 48903509, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48903509", "by": "jonathanlydall", "date": "2026-07-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've found TortoiseGit to be spectacular", "excerpt": "I've been doing regular significant re-writes to my local Git commit history with relative ease for over a decade even without this new Git command. I'm convinced that a big part of people often finding Git and rebase difficult is a user interface issue, having to know all the correct command line options and having to make your own mental model of what's happening and what you want to do, all makes it difficult to g", "context": "", "use_case": "Windows Git GUI", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Git history command deserves more attention"}, {"id": 776900928, "item_id": 48556308, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48556308", "by": "jonathanlydall", "date": "2026-06-16", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I run TortoiseGit which has a caching feature", "excerpt": "Its slowness is also a function of security software or any other file system \"filters\" (I believe they're called) are installed. For example, I run TortoiseGit which has a caching feature which is supposed to make it faster at showing what to commit. Disabling it increases the number of items I can delete per second in my Windows Explorer from about 1000 to about 3000 while making not making TortoiseGit operations m", "context": "", "use_case": "Git client for Windows", "switched_from": "", "story": "The time the x86 emulator team found code so bad they fixed it during emulation"}, {"id": 769988848, "item_id": 48124303, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48124303", "by": "Dwedit", "date": "2026-05-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use TortoiseGit, and that doesn't seem to care which service you are using.", "excerpt": "Is the tooling really centralized around Github? I use TortoiseGit, and that doesn't seem to care which service you are using. Although it does seem to have special authentication features specifically made to help you log in to Github.", "context": "", "use_case": "Git client for Windows", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo"}, {"id": 769397584, "item_id": 48087349, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48087349", "by": "gus_massa", "date": "2026-05-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use TortoiseGit for 99% of the git operations.", "excerpt": "I use TortoiseGit for 99% of the git operations. (And Git Cola on Linux)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily git operations", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beginners don't trust the command line"}, {"id": 743172194, "item_id": 46448262, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46448262", "by": "Tarball10", "date": "2025-12-31", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "such as TortoiseGit and Notepad++", "excerpt": "Apps need to adhere to some new conditions to contribute items to the Win 11 context menu. The 7-zip creator has been unable or unwilling to make these changes[1]. There are other open source projects which do display in the context menu, such as TortoiseGit and Notepad++. In fact there is a fork of 7-zip called NanaZip which supports the Win 11 context menu. [1] https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/th", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "2025 was a disaster for Windows 11"}, {"id": 737438016, "item_id": 46089876, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46089876", "by": "prmoustache", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "I don't think there is anything you have shown that warrants sticking to Tortoise Git instead of any other IDE.", "excerpt": "Any modern IDE has those functionalities, and most of them run on Linux too. I don't think there is anything you have shown that warrants sticking to Tortoise Git instead of any other IDE. Also if you don't want to use an IDE Gnome's file manager nautilus supports scripts available on right click. This would allows you to run git commands from the file manager , show the information you need using [YAD](https://yad-g", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS"}, {"id": 737401904, "item_id": 46087619, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46087619", "by": "20k", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I do virtually everything through tortoisegit, and much prefer it over a CLI.", "excerpt": "I do virtually everything through tortoisegit, and much prefer it over a CLI. When you right click, you get this: https://i.postimg.cc/hG4g8pjp/tgit.png Which gives you basically everything you could ever possibly want. My main use cases for it vs a terminal interface are: 1. When you commit, you get this: https://i.postimg.cc/90YJBtz1/boaty.png Clicking the files brings up a diff, which makes pre commit reviews extr", "context": "Windows user, prefers GUI over CLI", "use_case": "Git GUI via context menu", "switched_from": "", "story": "WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS"}, {"id": 737393985, "item_id": 46087124, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46087124", "by": "yonatan8070", "date": "2025-11-29", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "I don't know how similar it is to TortoiseGit", "excerpt": "I don't know how similar it is, but KDE's Dolphin file manager has git integration, I don't know how similar it is to TortoiseGit, it might be worth checking out https://apps.kde.org/dolphin_plugins/", "context": "", "use_case": "Git context menu on Windows", "switched_from": "", "story": "WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS"}, {"id": 734165073, "item_id": 45885317, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45885317", "by": "jonathanlydall", "date": "2025-11-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "On Windows I've been using TortoiseGit for over a decade now and in terms of Git power user features in a GUI I think it's unmatched.", "excerpt": "On Windows I've been using TortoiseGit for over a decade now and in terms of Git power user features in a GUI I think it's unmatched. People who defend the CLI as the only real way to use Git simply haven't used a decent GUI for it. I consider myself a very advanced Git user, but I barely know the CLI commands off the top of my head. A GUI really makes a lot of sense for something like Git, most of the time what you ", "context": "", "use_case": "Git GUI on Windows", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lazy Git UI you didn't know you need"}]}