What do you need to know about Git LFS in Azure DevOps for large binary file management?

Author : workday training | Published On : 03 Nov 2026

Git is popular for version control of source code in software development projects. However, working with big binary files can be difficult in a regular Git repository. Large files like videos, images, design assets, standard ML models and large application packages can bloat your repository and impact performance.

Git Large File Storage, or Git LFS for short, makes managing these files simpler. An microsoft azure devops training courses can teach you about Git LFS and its integration with Azure Repos.

In a normal git repo, files are stored as git objects. If developers update large files frequently, the repository might store several copies of those files. This can cause the repository to grow quite a lot over time.

Git LFS does this differently. In repository history, it stores a small pointer file that refers to the actual content managed by the Git LFS storage system instead of the complete large file. This simplifies management of the main Git repository.

For example, a game development team may store source code along with large audio files, 3D models, and graphic assets. Storing all versions of these assets directly in Git can make Git repository operations slower. Git LFS has a better way of handling these kinds of files.

In Azure DevOps training, learners can learn how to install Git LFS and configure it for a repository. They can run commands like git lfs install and git lfs track to enable tracking for certain file types.

A team might, for example, set up Git LFS to track PSD design files, large video files, or other binary types. The rules for tracking are stored in a file called .gitattributes, which you can commit to the repository.

Once Git LFS is configured, developers are able to continue to use familiar Git commands such as add, commit, push and pull. Git LFS handles storing and transferring the actual large-file content, when needed.

Azure Repos supports Git LFS, which lets development teams use it with their Azure DevOps repositories. However, students should note that storage limits, billing and repository configuration may differ depending on the organization's Azure DevOps plan and settings.

Another key topic is cloning of repositories . When a developer clones a repository containing LFS-managed files, Git LFS downloads the required file content according to the configured checkout behaviour. If Git LFS is not installed or configured properly, the developer may see pointer files instead of the original binary files.

Training also teaches learners how to identify and correct common Git LFS issues. These include authentication problems, failed uploads, missing file content, and storage limitations.

Teams should also decide which files really require Git LFS. The regular Git is usually better for small source files, configuration files and normal text documents. Git LFS is more useful for big binary files changing over time.

Also important is the history of the repository. If adding Git LFS to an existing repository, you may need to migrate large files that were committed previously. Such migration needs to be planned carefully since rewriting Git history may affect other developers using that repository.

You can also integrate Git LFS into automated build workflows. Azure Pipelines can get LFS managed content if allowed by the repository and pipeline configuration. This is important when application builds rely on large external assets.

If you’re a software developer, DevOps engineer, designer, or any team member who works with large digital resources, learning Git LFS can be very helpful.

To summarise, an azure devops training online helps learners to understand how to configure and manage Git LFS, track large files, troubleshoot repository problems, and improve collaboration. These skills are valuable for organisations that need to manage large binary assets without making their Git repositories difficult to maintain unnecessarily.