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P4 Visual Client (P4V) Documentation | 2025.4

# Branches

Branches within a P4 Server personal server are implemented as a stream. For more information on Streams and Branching, see Work with streams. The branch operation in Streams is the same as the `p4 switch` operation. In P4V, branching will create a new Stream of type main or development.

Users familiar with P4 Server streams: When connected to a personal server, the P4V Stream Graph View will change streams-specific terminology to include git-related terminology. Example: a stream is called a "Branch Stream". Switching streams is renamed to "Checkout Stream".

To view the branches of your personal server, open the Stream Graph View by selecting Streams View (Ctrl+7) from the View menu. Under Graph View Options, make sure your streams are selected, and click Apply.

For more information on the Stream Graph View including information on the display conventions and configuration, see Stream Graph.

To branch in P4V, from the Stream Graph View, right-click on the stream you wish to branch and select Branch Stream.

When creating a new branch, files that have been modified in the current branch are shelved for safekeeping. After switching back to an existing branch, P4V syncs your client workspace to the head of the new branch and unshelves any files that were open in the default changelist the last time the stream was used.

To change your workspace to a different branch either:

- Double-click the branch and select Work in this stream
- Right-click the branch and select Checkout Stream
- Drag the workspace icon from the stream you are currently working in to another stream

Branch switching restrictions:

- You cannot switch to a new branch if files are open in a numbered changelist.

- If files are open in the default changelist, they will be shelved and reverted prior to switching to the new branch, and will be automatically unshelved when switching back to this branch.

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