Why is my file still showing in Git after I ignored it?

It was committed before. Remove it from the index with git rm --cached and commit.

Should .env be ignored?

Yes. Commit a .env.example with placeholder values instead.

What does a leading slash mean?

/build matches only at the repository root. build/ matches a directory named build anywhere.

Can I un-ignore one file?

Yes. Add a line starting with !, such as !.vscode/extensions.json, after the rule that ignores it.

.gitignore generator

Combine .gitignore templates for your languages, frameworks, editors and OS.

Runs in your browser. Your input is not uploaded.

Filter templates

.gitignore3 templates

### Node ###
# Logs
logs
*.log
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*
lerna-debug.log*

# Diagnostic reports (https://nodejs.org/api/report.html)
report.[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]*.json

# Runtime data
pids
*.pid
*.seed
*.pid.lock

# Directory for instrumented libs generated by jscoverage/JSCover
lib-cov

# Coverage directory used by tools like istanbul
coverage
*.lcov

# nyc test coverage
.nyc_output

# Grunt intermediate storage (https://gruntjs.com/creating-plugins#storing-task-files)
.grunt

# Bower dependency directory (https://bower.io/)
bower_components

# node-waf configuration
.lock-wscript

# Compiled binary addons (https://nodejs.org/api/addons.html)
build/Release

# Dependency directories
node_modules/
jspm_packages/

# Snowpack dependency directory (https://snowpack.dev/)
web_modules/

# TypeScript cache
*.tsbuildinfo

# Optional npm cache directory
.npm

# Optional eslint cache
.eslintcache

# Optional stylelint cache
.stylelintcache

# Optional REPL history
.node_repl_history

# Output of 'npm pack'
*.tgz

# Yarn Integrity file
.yarn-integrity

# dotenv environment variable files
.env
.env.*
!.env.example

# parcel-bundler cache (https://parceljs.org/)
.cache
.parcel-cache

# Next.js build output
.next
out

# Nuxt.js build / generate output
.nuxt
dist
.output

# NitroJS
.nitro/

# Gatsby files
.cache/
# Comment in the public line in if your project uses Gatsby and not Next.js
# https://nextjs.org/blog/next-9-1#public-directory-support
# public

# vuepress build output
.vuepress/dist

# vuepress v2.x temp directory
.temp

# Sveltekit cache directory
.svelte-kit/

# vitepress build output
**/.vitepress/dist

# vitepress cache directory
**/.vitepress/cache

# Docusaurus cache and generated files
.docusaurus

# Serverless directories
.serverless/

# FuseBox cache
.fusebox/

# DynamoDB Local files
.dynamodb/

# Firebase cache directory
.firebase/

# TernJS port file
.tern-port

# Stores Visual Studio Code versions used for testing Visual Studio Code extensions
.vscode-test

# pnpm
.pnpm-store

# yarn v3
.pnp.*
.yarn/*
!.yarn/patches
!.yarn/plugins
!.yarn/releases
!.yarn/sdks
!.yarn/versions

# Vite files
vite.config.js.timestamp-*
vite.config.ts.timestamp-*
.vite/

# Astro generated types
.astro/

# Turbo Repo
.turbo

### macOS ###
# General
.DS_Store
.localized
__MACOSX/
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride
Icon[
]

# Resource forks
._*

# Files and directories that might appear in the root of a volume
.DocumentRevisions-V100
.fseventsd
.Spotlight-V100
.TemporaryItems
.Trashes
.VolumeIcon.icns
.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent
.com.apple.timemachine.supported
.PKInstallSandboxManager
.PKInstallSandboxManager-SystemSoftware
.hotfiles.btree
.vol
.file
.disk_label*
lost+found
.HFS+ Private Directory Data[
]

# Directories potentially created on remote AFP share
.AppleDB
.AppleDesktop
Network Trash Folder
Temporary Items
.apdisk

# Mac OS 6 to 9
Desktop DB
Desktop DF
TheFindByContentFolder
TheVolumeSettingsFolder
.FBCIndex
.FBCSemaphoreFile
.FBCLockFolder

# Quota system
.quota.group
.quota.user
.quota.ops.group
.quota.ops.user

# TimeMachine
Backups.backupdb
.MobileBackups
.MobileBackups.trash
MobileBackups.trash
tmbootpicker.efi

### VisualStudioCode ###
# Visual Studio Code
.vscode/*
!.vscode/settings.json
!.vscode/tasks.json
!.vscode/launch.json
!.vscode/extensions.json
!.vscode/*.code-snippets
!*.code-workspace

# Built Visual Studio Code Extensions
*.vsix

Loading the tool…

What it does

A .gitignore lists files Git should not track: dependencies, build output, editor settings and secrets. Templates for each language and tool are combined into one file, with a heading for each section.

Templates are from GitHub’s public gitignore collection.

How to use it

Tick the languages, frameworks, editors and operating systems you use.
Review the combined file.
Copy it or download it as .gitignore.

Things to watch for

A file that is already tracked stays tracked after you ignore it. Run git rm --cached <file> to stop tracking it.
Editor and OS files are better in a global ignore file (git config --global core.excludesFile) than in every project.

Questions

Why is my file still showing in Git after I ignored it?: It was committed before. Remove it from the index with git rm --cached and commit.
Should .env be ignored?: Yes. Commit a .env.example with placeholder values instead.
What does a leading slash mean?: /build matches only at the repository root. build/ matches a directory named build anywhere.
Can I un-ignore one file?: Yes. Add a line starting with !, such as !.vscode/extensions.json, after the rule that ignores it.