How can I view the Git history in Visual Studio Code?

GitLens has a nice Git history browser. Install GitLens from the extensions marketplace, and then run "Show GitLens Explorer" from the command palette.

I recommend you this repository, https://github.com/DonJayamanne/gitHistoryVSCode

Git History

It does exactly what you need and has these features:

• View the details of a commit, such as author name, email, date, committer name, email, date and comments.
• View a previous copy of the file or compare it against the local workspace version or a previous version.
• View the changes to the active line in the editor (Git Blame).
• Configure the information displayed in the list
• Use keyboard shortcuts to view history of a file or line
• View the Git log (along with details of a commit, such as author name, email, comments and file changes).

You won't need a plugin to see commit history with Visual Studio Code 1.44 or more.

Timeline view

This is a unified view for visualizing time-series events (for example, Git commits, file saves, test runs, etc.) for a file. The Timeline view automatically updates showing the timeline for the currently active editor, by default. You can control this default behavior by toggling the eye icon in the view toolbar. Also, similar to other views, the Timeline view supports find or filter as you type.

The Timeline view is collapsed by default at the bottom of the File Explorer. Selecting the Timeline sash will expand the Timeline view.

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Here is the Timeline view in action:

It is evident to me that GitLens is the most popular extension for Git history.

What I like the most it can provide you side annotations when some line has been changed the last time and by whom.