.gitignore Cheatsheet: Complete Guide to Git Ignore Patterns

📁 .gitignore Cheatsheet

Complete Guide to Git Ignore Patterns & Best Practices

🎯 Basic Syntax

Ignore a file

filename.txt

Ignores the specific file in any directory

Ignore a directory

folder/

Ignores the entire directory and its contents

Wildcard match

*.log

Ignores all files with .log extension

Negation (exception)

!important.log

Don't ignore this file (even if matched before)

Comments

# This is a comment

Add comments to document your .gitignore

Root directory only

/config.json

Only ignores file in root, not subdirectories

🔧 Pattern Matching

Pattern	Description	Example Matches
*	Matches any string (except /)	*.txt matches file.txt, data.txt
**	Matches any number of directories	**/logs matches a/logs, a/b/logs
?	Matches any single character	file?.txt matches file1.txt, fileA.txt
[abc]	Matches any character in brackets	file[123].txt matches file1.txt, file2.txt
[0-9]	Matches any character in range	file[0-9].txt matches file0.txt to file9.txt
!	Negates a pattern (exception)	!important.log keeps this file tracked
/	Directory separator	/logs only ignores logs in root
#	Comment line	# Ignore all .env files

💼 Common Use Cases

Operating System Files

# macOS
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride

# Windows
Thumbs.db
Desktop.ini
$RECYCLE.BIN/

# Linux
*~
.directory

IDE & Editor Files

# Visual Studio Code
.vscode/
*.code-workspace

# JetBrains IDEs
.idea/
*.iml
*.iws

# Sublime Text
*.sublime-project
*.sublime-workspace

# Vim
*.swp
*.swo
*~

Language-Specific Patterns

# Node.js
node_modules/
npm-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*
.pnpm-debug.log*

# Python
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class
*.egg-info/
venv/
.env

# Java
*.class
*.jar
*.war
target/

# Ruby
*.gem
.bundle/
vendor/bundle/

# Go
*.exe
*.test
*.out

Build & Dependencies

# Build directories
dist/
build/
out/
bin/

# Dependency directories
node_modules/
vendor/
packages/

# Compiled files
*.o
*.so
*.dylib
*.dll

Environment & Secrets

# Environment variables
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

# API keys and secrets
secrets.yml
*.pem
*.key
credentials.json

# Configuration with secrets
config/database.yml
config/secrets.yml

Logs & Temporary Files

# Log files
*.log
logs/
*.log.*

# Temporary files
tmp/
temp/
*.tmp
*.bak
*.swp

📋 Advanced Patterns

Ignore all except one

*.log
!important.log

Ignores all .log files except important.log

Nested directory pattern

**/build/output/

Matches build/output/ at any depth

Multiple extensions

*.{jpg,jpeg,png,gif}

Ignores multiple image formats

Ignore directory but not root

**/temp/
!/temp/

Ignores temp folders except in root

⚡ Best Practices

✓ DO:

Add .gitignore before your first commit
Use template .gitignore files for your language/framework
Keep .gitignore in version control
Document complex patterns with comments
Use specific patterns over broad wildcards
Group related patterns together

✗ DON'T:

Commit sensitive information like API keys or passwords
Ignore files that should be shared with team (configs, schemas)
Use overly broad patterns that might catch important files
Ignore the .gitignore file itself
Forget to update .gitignore when adding new tools

🛠️ Useful Commands

# Check what's being ignored
git status --ignored

# Remove file from tracking (already committed)
git rm --cached filename

# Remove directory from tracking
git rm -r --cached directory/

# Test if a file would be ignored
git check-ignore -v filename

# Force add an ignored file
git add -f filename

# Apply .gitignore to already tracked files
git rm -r --cached .
git add .
git commit -m "Apply .gitignore"

📦 Template Resources

Quick Start Templates:

GitHub Templates: github.com/github/gitignore
gitignore.io: Generate custom .gitignore files online
toptal.com/developers/gitignore: Interactive generator

🔍 Troubleshooting

File still being tracked?

# If a file was committed before being ignored:
git rm --cached filename
git commit -m "Stop tracking filename"

Pattern not working?

Check for typos in the pattern
Ensure no trailing whitespace
Use git check-ignore -v filename to debug
Remember patterns are applied top-to-bottom
Later patterns can override earlier ones with negation (!)

📝 Complete Example

# ===================================
# Project-Specific .gitignore Example
# ===================================

# Dependencies
node_modules/
vendor/
bower_components/

# Environment & Secrets
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
secrets.yml
*.pem

# Build Output
dist/
build/
out/
*.min.js
*.min.css

# Logs
logs/
*.log
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*

# Operating System
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
*.swp
*~

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.sublime-workspace

# Testing
coverage/
.nyc_output/
*.test.js.snap

# Temporary Files
tmp/
temp/
*.tmp
*.bak

# Keep these exceptions
!.gitkeep
!.env.example