Error comparing historic versions of a TFS source controlled file

By rickvdbosch

- 1 minutes read - 75 words

When working with Visual Studio 2012 on our current project, the error ‘These files are not text files and cannot be opened in the comparison window.’ shows up every now and again. I’ve tried several things to solve this problem.

Here’s the one that works:

  • Close Visual Studio
  • Navigate to your version of the c:\users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp\ folder
  • Delete the TFSTemp folder
  • Restart Visual Studio and try again. You should be good to go!

Hope this helps.