What is .gitignore?

Learn what the .gitignore file does.

What is .gitignore?

.gitignore is a special text file used to specify files and directories that you do not want Git to track. Files matching its patterns are not automatically added to the staging area if they are not already tracked. It is especially useful for temporary files, logs, and personal settings.

# .gitignore
*.log
cache/

This file prevents matching untracked files from appearing in the repository status.

Ignoring untracked files

.gitignore rules mainly apply to files that are not already tracked by Git. For example, if debug.log matches a pattern, Git will not show it in the untracked files list. However, a file committed earlier is not removed from tracking simply by adding it to .gitignore.

# .gitignore
debug.log

# Matching file
debug.log

For this reason, .gitignore is used to identify files that should not be added to the project in the first place.

Exercise Keep a file out of Git

Add a rule to the .gitignore file that ignores secret.txt. The file should contain only this rule.

Show example solution

# .gitignore
secret.txt

Test yourself

You do not want Git to track log files in your project. Which pattern should be written in .gitignore?
- *.html
- git log
- git add
- *.log
Show answer

*.log — The <code>*.log</code> pattern matches files with the .log extension.

Ignore a log file

# .gitignore
____

Show answer

# .gitignore
debug.log

.gitignore use cases

Geçici dosya

A file not meant to be permanent
Günlük dosyası

Application activity record
.gitignore

Stores ignore rules
Untracked

A file not yet tracked

Next lesson: Patterns

We Are Enhancing Your Experience

Cookie Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Analytical Cookies