.gitignore Generator and Tester

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gitignore not working

The .gitignore is not working: causes and how to diagnose

Paste the .gitignore and the file list in the Test tab. The tool shows which line decides each path, and the linter flags trailing spaces, inline comments, backslashes and unclosed classes.

The most common causes, from most likely to rarest

Cause number one is the file already being tracked. A .gitignore only applies to files Git is not following yet; if the file went into a commit before the rule, it keeps showing up in the changes. To list tracked files that match the rules, run git ls-files -c -i --exclude-standard. To stop tracking without deleting from disk, use git rm --cached path (git rm -r --cached for folders) and commit. The second is a rule that does not match: git check-ignore -v path shows the deciding line, or nothing when none matches. The output has the format file:line:pattern, the same the Test tab presents with highlighting.
Then come the syntax traps. A trailing space is dropped unless a backslash precedes it. A comment only works on its own line: in *.log # logs the whole pattern, text included, becomes the name searched for, and no .log matches. A backslash escapes the next character and does not separate folders, so build\out becomes the pattern buildout. An asterisk does not cross slashes: src/*.js catches src/app.js, but not src/app/main.js. And an unclosed bracket makes the pattern invalid, so it never matches. All of these traps show up as warnings, with the line number, in the tool's linter.
There are also two less obvious cases. The first is encoding: Git reads the .gitignore as bytes and expects UTF-8 or ASCII text; a UTF-16 file, like the one Windows PowerShell 5.1 writes when redirecting with >, is not understood, and no rule works. In a test with Git 2.43, that file was ignored entirely; save it as UTF-8. The second is case: on Linux, /Docs does not match docs, while on macOS and Windows Git usually runs with core.ignorecase=true. The Test tab has an option to simulate that behavior. Finally, remember that files added with git add -f stay tracked even when ignored.

Checked cases

Inline comment

Input: *.log # logs → app.log
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

The pattern became *.log # logs, which does not match app.log.

Backslash as separator

Input: build\out → build/out
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

The rule becomes buildout; write build/out.

Asterisk and slash

Input: src/*.js → src/app/main.js
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

The * does not cross the slash; use src/**/*.js.

Case on Linux

Input: /Docs → docs/a.md
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

With core.ignorecase=true it would be ignored.

Trailing space

Input: node_modules/␠ → node_modules/x.js
Expected output: ignorado / ignored

The space is dropped, so the rule works; the linter only warns.

Full tool FAQ

How do I create a .gitignore for my project?

Tap the shortcut for your stack (Next.js, Python, Laravel, Unity and others) or search by name: react and vite open the Node template, django opens Python. Add the editor (Visual Studio Code, JetBrains) and the operating system (macOS, Windows, Linux) of the people working on the project, copy the result and save it as .gitignore at the repository root. Editor and OS templates can also go to a global file (core.excludesFile) so they do not clutter the project.

Why does Git still show a file that is in my .gitignore?

How do I ignore a folder but keep one file inside it?

What is the difference between build, build/, /build and /build/?

What do *, ? and ** do in a .gitignore?

Can I have several .gitignore files, and which one wins?

Is putting .env in the .gitignore enough if I already committed a key?

How do I ignore files only on my machine without touching the project?

Why does my rule not match?

Where do the templates come from, and are they current?

Frequently asked questions

How do I find which rule catches a file?

Run git check-ignore -v path. The output gives the file, the line and the pattern, and a negation shows with the ! in front. With no output, no rule matches the path.

I changed the .gitignore and nothing changed. Do I need to restart something?

No, Git re-reads the file on every command. What does not change is what is already tracked: the fix there is git rm --cached and a commit.

Does a .gitignore inside a subfolder apply only to it?

Yes: its rules apply to the subfolder and everything below, and patterns with a slash are anchored there. In the Test tab, the Folder that holds the .gitignore field simulates this.

Next steps

# Normalize line endings: Git detects text files, LF in the repository. * text=auto eol=lf # Shell scripts need LF; Windows scripts need CRLF. *.sh text eol=lf *.bat text eol=crlf *.cmd text eol=crlf *.ps1 text eol=crlf # Binary files: no conversion and no text diff. *.png binary *.jpg binary *.jpeg binary *.gif binary *.ico binary *.webp binary *.pdf binary *.zip binary *.gz binary *.woff binary *.woff2 binary # Lock files: GitHub collapses them in diffs. package-lock.json linguist-generated yarn.lock linguist-generated pnpm-lock.yaml linguist-generated

The most common causes, from most likely to rarest

Cause number one is the file already being tracked. A .gitignore only applies to files Git is not following yet; if the file went into a commit before the rule, it keeps showing up in the changes. To list tracked files that match the rules, run git ls-files -c -i --exclude-standard. To stop tracking without deleting from disk, use git rm --cached path (git rm -r --cached for folders) and commit. The second is a rule that does not match: git check-ignore -v path shows the deciding line, or nothing when none matches. The output has the format file:line:pattern, the same the Test tab presents with highlighting.

Then come the syntax traps. A trailing space is dropped unless a backslash precedes it. A comment only works on its own line: in *.log # logs the whole pattern, text included, becomes the name searched for, and no .log matches. A backslash escapes the next character and does not separate folders, so build\out becomes the pattern buildout. An asterisk does not cross slashes: src/*.js catches src/app.js, but not src/app/main.js. And an unclosed bracket makes the pattern invalid, so it never matches. All of these traps show up as warnings, with the line number, in the tool's linter.

There are also two less obvious cases. The first is encoding: Git reads the .gitignore as bytes and expects UTF-8 or ASCII text; a UTF-16 file, like the one Windows PowerShell 5.1 writes when redirecting with >, is not understood, and no rule works. In a test with Git 2.43, that file was ignored entirely; save it as UTF-8. The second is case: on Linux, /Docs does not match docs, while on macOS and Windows Git usually runs with core.ignorecase=true. The Test tab has an option to simulate that behavior. Finally, remember that files added with git add -f stay tracked even when ignored.

Checked cases

Inline comment

Input: *.log # logs → app.log
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

The pattern became *.log # logs, which does not match app.log.

Backslash as separator

Input: build\out → build/out
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

The rule becomes buildout; write build/out.

Asterisk and slash

Input: src/*.js → src/app/main.js
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

The * does not cross the slash; use src/**/*.js.

Case on Linux

Input: /Docs → docs/a.md
Expected output: não ignorado / not ignored

With core.ignorecase=true it would be ignored.

Trailing space

Input: node_modules/␠ → node_modules/x.js
Expected output: ignorado / ignored

The space is dropped, so the rule works; the linter only warns.

Full tool FAQ

How do I create a .gitignore for my project?

Why does Git still show a file that is in my .gitignore?

How do I ignore a folder but keep one file inside it?

What is the difference between build, build/, /build and /build/?

What do *, ? and ** do in a .gitignore?

Can I have several .gitignore files, and which one wins?

Is putting .env in the .gitignore enough if I already committed a key?

How do I ignore files only on my machine without touching the project?

Why does my rule not match?

Where do the templates come from, and are they current?

Frequently asked questions

How do I find which rule catches a file?

Run git check-ignore -v path. The output gives the file, the line and the pattern, and a negation shows with the ! in front. With no output, no rule matches the path.

I changed the .gitignore and nothing changed. Do I need to restart something?

No, Git re-reads the file on every command. What does not change is what is already tracked: the fix there is git rm --cached and a commit.

Does a .gitignore inside a subfolder apply only to it?

Yes: its rules apply to the subfolder and everything below, and patterns with a slash are anchored there. In the Test tab, the Folder that holds the .gitignore field simulates this.

Continue in the tool

More pages for this tool

The .gitignore is not working: causes and how to diagnose

The most common causes, from most likely to rarest

Checked cases

Inline comment

Backslash as separator

Asterisk and slash

Case on Linux

Trailing space

Full tool FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How do I find which rule catches a file?

I changed the .gitignore and nothing changed. Do I need to restart something?

Does a .gitignore inside a subfolder apply only to it?

Next steps

Stack shortcuts

Selected (0)

.gitignore

Rules and how many paths each one decided

Problems found

Continue in the tool

More pages for this tool

The .gitignore is not working: causes and how to diagnose

The most common causes, from most likely to rarest

Checked cases

Inline comment

Backslash as separator

Asterisk and slash

Case on Linux

Trailing space

Full tool FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How do I find which rule catches a file?

I changed the .gitignore and nothing changed. Do I need to restart something?

Does a .gitignore inside a subfolder apply only to it?

Next steps

Stack shortcuts

Selected (0)

.gitignore

Rules and how many paths each one decided

Problems found