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Git•Git Advanced

Git Ignore and .gitignore

Flash cards

Review the key moves

1/4

Core idea

What is the main idea behind Git Ignore and .gitignore?

Lesson checks

Practice each idea before moving on

Short Mimo-style checks built from this lesson's code, terms, and sequence.

1Quick choice

Which statement best captures the main point of this lesson?

2Fill blank

Complete the missing token from the example code.

___ .gitignore

3Order

Put the learning moves in the order that makes the concept easiest to apply.

Wildcards & Patterns

Create a .gitignore File

When to Use .gitignore

What is .gitignore?

The .gitignore file tells Git which files and folders to ignore (not track).

This is useful for keeping log files, temporary files, build artifacts, or personal files out of your repository.

Examples of files to ignore: log files, temporary files, hidden files, personal files, OS/editor files, etc.

The .gitignore file itself is tracked by Git, so everyone using the repository ignores the same files.

When to Use .gitignore

When you want to keep sensitive, local, or unnecessary files out of your repository
When sharing a project with others and want to avoid cluttering Git history
When working with build tools or editors that create extra files

Create a .gitignore File

Go to the root of your local Git repository.
Create a file named .gitignore :

Example

touch .gitignore

Ignoring Folders

To ignore a folder and everything inside it, use a trailing slash:

temp/

This ignores any folder named temp anywhere in your project.

Wildcards & Patterns

Wildcards let you match many files or folders at once:

* matches any number of characters
? matches a single character
[abc] matches any character in the set
[!abc] matches any character not in the set

*.tmp # all .tmp files
my?ile.txt # matches my1ile.txt, myAile.txt, etc.
log[0-9].txt # log1.txt, log2.txt, ... log9.txt

Negation (!)

Use ! to not ignore something that would otherwise be ignored. This is called an exception:

*.log
!important.log

This ignores all .log files except important.log .

Comments and Blank Lines

Lines starting with # are comments and are ignored by Git. Blank lines are also ignored. Use comments to explain your rules:

# Ignore log files
*.log
# Ignore temp folders
temp/

Local & Personal Ignore Rules

If you want to ignore files only for yourself (not for everyone who uses the repository), add them to .git/info/exclude . This works just like .gitignore but is not shared.

Global .gitignore (User Level)

You can set up a global .gitignore file for all your projects. This is great for ignoring OS or editor files everywhere (like .DS_Store or Thumbs.db ):

git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

Then add your patterns to ~/.gitignore_global .

How to Stop Tracking a File

If you add a file to .gitignore but Git is still tracking it, you need to tell Git to stop:

git rm --cached filename.txt

This removes the file from the repository but keeps it on your computer. Next time you commit, Git will ignore it.

Tips & Troubleshooting

Check for typos- .gitignore is case-sensitive!
If a file is already tracked, use git rm --cached to stop tracking it.
Use comments ( # ) to explain tricky rules for your teammates.
Use git status to see if your ignored files are being tracked.
Remember: .gitignore only affects files that are not already tracked by Git.

Pattern Syntax

Here are some common patterns and how they match:

Pattern	Explanation/Matches	Examples
Blank lines are ignored
# text comment	Lines starting with # are ignored
name	All name files, name folders, and files and folders in any name folder	/name.log /name/file.txt /lib/name.log
name /	Ending with / specifies the pattern is for a folder. Matches all files and folders in any name folder	/name/file.txt /name/log/name.log no match: /name.log
name . file	All files with the name.file	/name.file /lib/name.file
/name . file	Starting with / specifies the pattern matches only files in the root folder	/name.file no match: /lib/name.file
lib/name . file	Patterns specifiing files in specific folders are always realative to root (even if you do not start with / )	/lib/name.file no match: name.file /test/lib/name.file
** /lib/name.file	Starting with ** before / specifies that it matches any folder in the repository. Not just on root.	/lib/name.file /test/lib/name.file
** /name	All name folders, and files and folders in any name folder	/name/log.file /lib/name/log.file /name/lib/log.file
/lib/** /name	All name folders, and files and folders in any name folder within the lib folder.	/lib/name/log.file /lib/test/name/log.file /lib/test/ver1/name/log.file no match: /name/log.file
*. file	All files withe .file extention	/name.file /lib/name.file
* name /	All folders ending with name	/lastname/log.file /firstname/log.file
name ?. file	? matches a single non-specific character	/names.file /name1.file no match: /names1.file
name [a-z]. file	[ range ] matches a single character in the specified range (in this case a character in the range of a-z, and also be numberic.)	/names.file /nameb.file no match: /name1.file
name [abc]. file	[ set ] matches a single character in the specified set of characters (in this case either a, b, or c)	/namea.file /nameb.file no match: /names.file
name [!abc]. file	[! set ] matches a single character, except the ones spesified in the set of characters (in this case a, b, or c)	/names.file /namex.file no match: /namesb.file
*. file	All files withe .file extention	/name.file /lib/name.file
name / ! name /secret.log	! specifies a negation or exception. Matches all files and folders in any name folder, except name/secret.log	/name/file.txt /name/log/name.log no match: /name/secret.log
*. file ! name .file	! specifies a negation or exception. All files withe .file extention, except name.file	/log.file /lastname.file no match: /name.file
. file ! name / .file junk.*	Adding new patterns after a negation will re-ignore a previous negated file All files withe .file extention, except the ones in name folder. Unless the file name is junk	/log.file /name/log.file no match: /name/junk.file

Git .gitattributes

Loading lesson path

Git•Git Advanced

Git Ignore and .gitignore

Flash cards

Review the key moves

1/4

Core idea

What is the main idea behind Git Ignore and .gitignore?

Lesson checks

Practice each idea before moving on

Short Mimo-style checks built from this lesson's code, terms, and sequence.

1Quick choice

Which statement best captures the main point of this lesson?

2Fill blank

Complete the missing token from the example code.

___ .gitignore

3Order

Put the learning moves in the order that makes the concept easiest to apply.

Wildcards & Patterns

Create a .gitignore File

When to Use .gitignore

What is .gitignore?

The .gitignore file tells Git which files and folders to ignore (not track).

This is useful for keeping log files, temporary files, build artifacts, or personal files out of your repository.

Examples of files to ignore: log files, temporary files, hidden files, personal files, OS/editor files, etc.

The .gitignore file itself is tracked by Git, so everyone using the repository ignores the same files.

When to Use .gitignore

When you want to keep sensitive, local, or unnecessary files out of your repository
When sharing a project with others and want to avoid cluttering Git history
When working with build tools or editors that create extra files

Create a .gitignore File

Go to the root of your local Git repository.
Create a file named .gitignore :

Example

touch .gitignore

Ignoring Folders

To ignore a folder and everything inside it, use a trailing slash:

temp/

This ignores any folder named temp anywhere in your project.

Wildcards & Patterns

Wildcards let you match many files or folders at once:

* matches any number of characters
? matches a single character
[abc] matches any character in the set
[!abc] matches any character not in the set

*.tmp # all .tmp files
my?ile.txt # matches my1ile.txt, myAile.txt, etc.
log[0-9].txt # log1.txt, log2.txt, ... log9.txt

Negation (!)

Use ! to not ignore something that would otherwise be ignored. This is called an exception:

*.log
!important.log

This ignores all .log files except important.log .

Comments and Blank Lines

Lines starting with # are comments and are ignored by Git. Blank lines are also ignored. Use comments to explain your rules:

# Ignore log files
*.log
# Ignore temp folders
temp/

Local & Personal Ignore Rules

If you want to ignore files only for yourself (not for everyone who uses the repository), add them to .git/info/exclude . This works just like .gitignore but is not shared.

Global .gitignore (User Level)

You can set up a global .gitignore file for all your projects. This is great for ignoring OS or editor files everywhere (like .DS_Store or Thumbs.db ):

git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

Then add your patterns to ~/.gitignore_global .

How to Stop Tracking a File

If you add a file to .gitignore but Git is still tracking it, you need to tell Git to stop:

git rm --cached filename.txt

This removes the file from the repository but keeps it on your computer. Next time you commit, Git will ignore it.

Tips & Troubleshooting

Check for typos- .gitignore is case-sensitive!
If a file is already tracked, use git rm --cached to stop tracking it.
Use comments ( # ) to explain tricky rules for your teammates.
Use git status to see if your ignored files are being tracked.
Remember: .gitignore only affects files that are not already tracked by Git.

Pattern Syntax

Here are some common patterns and how they match:

Pattern	Explanation/Matches	Examples
Blank lines are ignored
# text comment	Lines starting with # are ignored
name	All name files, name folders, and files and folders in any name folder	/name.log /name/file.txt /lib/name.log
name /	Ending with / specifies the pattern is for a folder. Matches all files and folders in any name folder	/name/file.txt /name/log/name.log no match: /name.log
name . file	All files with the name.file	/name.file /lib/name.file
/name . file	Starting with / specifies the pattern matches only files in the root folder	/name.file no match: /lib/name.file
lib/name . file	Patterns specifiing files in specific folders are always realative to root (even if you do not start with / )	/lib/name.file no match: name.file /test/lib/name.file
** /lib/name.file	Starting with ** before / specifies that it matches any folder in the repository. Not just on root.	/lib/name.file /test/lib/name.file
** /name	All name folders, and files and folders in any name folder	/name/log.file /lib/name/log.file /name/lib/log.file
/lib/** /name	All name folders, and files and folders in any name folder within the lib folder.	/lib/name/log.file /lib/test/name/log.file /lib/test/ver1/name/log.file no match: /name/log.file
*. file	All files withe .file extention	/name.file /lib/name.file
* name /	All folders ending with name	/lastname/log.file /firstname/log.file
name ?. file	? matches a single non-specific character	/names.file /name1.file no match: /names1.file
name [a-z]. file	[ range ] matches a single character in the specified range (in this case a character in the range of a-z, and also be numberic.)	/names.file /nameb.file no match: /name1.file
name [abc]. file	[ set ] matches a single character in the specified set of characters (in this case either a, b, or c)	/namea.file /nameb.file no match: /names.file
name [!abc]. file	[! set ] matches a single character, except the ones spesified in the set of characters (in this case a, b, or c)	/names.file /namex.file no match: /namesb.file
*. file	All files withe .file extention	/name.file /lib/name.file
name / ! name /secret.log	! specifies a negation or exception. Matches all files and folders in any name folder, except name/secret.log	/name/file.txt /name/log/name.log no match: /name/secret.log
*. file ! name .file	! specifies a negation or exception. All files withe .file extention, except name.file	/log.file /lastname.file no match: /name.file
. file ! name / .file junk.*	Adding new patterns after a negation will re-ignore a previous negated file All files withe .file extention, except the ones in name folder. Unless the file name is junk	/log.file /name/log.file no match: /name/junk.file

Git .gitattributes