Compare files on double click in Pending Changes view

Is there a way in visual studio to change the behavior when I double click a file in the 'Pending Changes' view.

The default behavior is, that Visual Studio opens the file in code editor, but I want that it opens the 'Compare'-Dialog with the latest version. (same behavior as in TortoiseSVN)

Do shift + double-click instead.

There is a way to make this permanent so you don't need to shift + double-click: http://www.richard-banks.org/2010/07/how-to-double-click-to-diff-pending.html

Path: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio<ver>\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Behavior
Value: DoubleClickOnChange (DWORD)

0 == view as the primary command (default)
1 == compare as primary command

The steps from VS2017 onward are a bit different. VS 2017 uses its own private registry, which is stored in your AppData folder.

Steps

1. Close all visual studio instances

2. Select the HKEY_USERS node, and click File > Load Hive

3. Open privateregistry.bin which can be found at %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\15.0_[*some key*]

4. Provide a key name. Eg VS2017PrivateRegistry

5. Navigate to the following path and create a new DWORD with value of 1.

   Path:HKEY_USERS\VS2017PrivateRegistry\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\15.0_[*some key*]\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Behavior

   Value: DoubleClickOnChange (DWORD) 1

6. Select HKEY_USERS\VS2017PrivateRegistry

7. Click File > Unload Hive

VS 2017

This PowerShell script should turn this on for the latest installed instance (adapted from Anish's answer)

You'll need to close all VS instances first.

$instanceId = $(& "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe" -latest -property instanceId).Trim()
reg.exe load HKLM\VS2017PrivateRegistry $env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\15.0_$instanceId\privateregistry.bin
reg.exe add HKLM\VS2017PrivateRegistry\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\15.0_$instanceId\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Behavior /v DoubleClickOnChange /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg.exe unload HKLM\VS2017PrivateRegistry

VS 2015 or older

This PowerShell command should turn this on for all installed versions:

Set-ItemProperty HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\*\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Behavior DoubleClickOnChange 1

VS 2019 And Beyond (hopefully)

Building on Tereza's answer using powershell

Run powershell as adminstrator and close Visual Studio. (you might have to wait a couple of seconds for VS to release some files) (if you copy paste make sure to send the last command, or else VS won't start)

$instanceId = $(& "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe" -latest -property instanceId).Trim()
$versionMajor = $(& "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe" -latest -property installationVersion).Trim().Substring(0,2)
$year = $(& "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe" -latest -property catalog_productLineVersion).Trim()
reg.exe load HKLM\VS$yearPrivateRegistry $env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\$versionMajor.0_$instanceId\privateregistry.bin
reg.exe add HKLM\VS$yearPrivateRegistry\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\$versionMajor.0_$instanceId\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Behavior /v DoubleClickOnChange /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg.exe unload HKLM\VS$yearPrivateRegistry

This attempts to determine the major version as well.

Put this on a .reg file and and double click it, this will make your double click compare instead of opening the file in the pending changes window.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Behavior]
"DoubleClickOnChange"=dword:00000001

Make sure the Visual Studio version is correct.

You could also apply some Visual Studio keyboard short cuts for the various comparison types - Latest, WorkSpace and Previous.

See the following post: Comparison keyboard shortcuts for Pending Changes in TFS

Slight update for 2022, as there doesn't seem to be a vswhere.exe to pull a version number, and it's 64-bit. I haven't looked to see if there's another option to pull that, but for the once-in-an-install task, I'm okay with two steps and a manual copy/paste.

Same close Visual Studio instances and wait at least a few seconds for it to unload the registry, and open a Powershell as admin. Run this first to find your version number.

dir $env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\

Then add it to the $version string and run the rest below.

$version = "17.0_[*some key*]"
reg.exe load HKLM\VSPrivateRegistry $env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\$version\privateregistry.bin
reg.exe add HKLM\VSPrivateRegistry\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\$version\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Behavior /v DoubleClickOnChange /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg.exe unload HKLM\VSPrivateRegistry

Maybe this method will be more shelf-stable for future versions, though judging from the history of this page, I shouldn't expect that.