[Devops] How to fix this error in Team Explorer- Pending Changes

Borges, Marcio Custodio 0 Reputation points
2026-06-30T02:20:17.5566667+00:00

It's not possible to operate with deprecated policies

How to fix this issue?

Azure DevOps
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  1. Alex Burlachenko 23,250 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2026-06-30T09:57:15.7466667+00:00

    Borges, Marcio Custodio hi,

    that usually means the project is still using old/deprecated Azure DevOps branch/check-in policies, and Team Explorer can’t process them anymore. Try updating Visual Studio to the latest version. Older Team Explorer clients can throw weird policy errors when the server/project has newer or changed policy handling.

    If updating VS doesn’t fix it, ask the Azure DevOps project admin to review the repo/branch policies and remove any old custom/deprecated check-in policies. Then recreate them using current branch policies in Azure DevOps.

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/repos/git/branch-policies

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/repos/tfvc/add-check-policies

    So, update the client first, then clean up deprecated policies on the Azure DevOps side.

    rgds,

    Alex

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  2. Vallepu Venkateswarlu 10,260 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-06-30T08:53:39.62+00:00

    Hi Borges, Marcio Custodio,

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform.

    The error "It's not possible to operate with deprecated policies" in Team Explorer > Pending Changes (TFVC) is typically caused by deprecated or unsupported TFVC check-in policies configured for the Team Project. This is a server-side project configuration issue rather than a problem with your local Visual Studio installation.

    To resolve it:

    • Verify whether any legacy or custom TFVC check-in policies are configured under Team Project Settings > Source Control > Check-in Policy.
    • If obsolete policies exist, remove or replace them with supported policies.
    • If no policies are visible but the error persists, the Team Project may still contain legacy policy metadata. A Project Administrator will need to remove the deprecated check-in policies from the Team Project using the appropriate Azure DevOps/TFS administration tools or APIs.
    • Updating Visual Studio, clearing the local cache, or recreating the workspace generally does not resolve this issue because the configuration is stored in the Team Project.

    Ref: TFVC Policies Storage Updates

    Please210246-screenshot-2021-12-10-121802.pngand “up-vote” wherever the information provided helps you, **this can be beneficial to other community members.

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