Gitignore Generator
FREEGenerate a complete .gitignore file in seconds. Pick the languages, frameworks, editors and operating systems your project uses, and the Gitignore Generator builds one clean file from official GitHub templates. Add your own rules if you need them, check the live preview, and download the file. It is free, and you do not need an account.
What Is a Gitignore Generator?
A .gitignore file tells Git which files to leave out of version control: dependency folders like node_modules, build output, cache directories, editor settings, system files like .DS_Store and Thumbs.db, and anything sensitive such as .env files and API keys.
Writing that file by hand is slow, and it is easy to miss something. A .gitignore generator does the work for you. Select Python, Django, VS Code and macOS, for example, and it assembles the right patterns for each into one file.
Why Use This Tool to Generate a .gitignore
Official templates, all in one place. You get 100+ templates sourced from GitHub’s own collection, covering languages, frameworks, IDEs and operating systems. There is no need to hunt through repositories and copy patterns from several places.
One file for a mixed stack. Many projects combine a backend, a frontend and deployment tooling. When you auto generate a .gitignore from several templates here, overlapping rules are merged so you do not end up with a repetitive file.
Sensitive files stay out of the repo. Use the templates and your own custom rules to keep .env files, credentials and keys from being committed by accident.
Room for project-specific rules. Add your own patterns and comments, so teammates can see why a file is excluded.
How to Use the Gitignore Generator
1. Select the languages, frameworks, IDEs and operating systems your project uses.
2. Watch the combined file build in the live preview as you add or remove options.
3. Add any custom rules or comments for files only your project has.
4. Download the file and place it in the root of your repository, ideally before your first commit.
How to Generate a .gitignore File for a Mixed Stack
Say you are building a Python backend with a React frontend, developing in VS Code on macOS. Select Python, React, VS Code and macOS. The tool pulls the matching official templates and merges them into a single file, dropping any rule that appears in more than one. Review the preview, add a line for anything specific to your project, and download.
Gitignore Syntax in Short
A few rules cover most of what you will see in a generated file:
• /node_modules matches only at the repository root.
• node_modules/ matches a directory with that name at any depth.
• *.log matches any file ending in .log.
• A line starting with ! negates an earlier pattern. /logs/*.log followed by !/logs/important.log ignores every log except one.
One catch: you cannot re-include a file if its parent folder is already ignored. Git does not look inside an excluded directory.
Keeping Machine-Level Files Out of Every Project
Files created by your own system or editor, such as .DS_Store, do not belong to any one project. Git lets you set a global ignore file for them:
git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global
With that in place, each project’s .gitignore can stay focused on the technology it actually uses.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Adding gitignore after files are already tracked.
✓ Solution:
Git keeps tracking a file it already knows about, even if you add it to .gitignore later. Run git rm --cached <file> (or git rm -r --cached <folder>) to stop tracking it while keeping your local copy, then commit
❌ Getting the slashes wrong.
✓ Solution:
A leading slash anchors a pattern to the repository root. A trailing slash limits it to directories. Mixing them up excludes too much or too little.
❌ Forgetting editor and OS files.
✓ Solution:
Folders like .vscode/ and .idea/ and files like .DS_Store are specific to one machine. Left in the repo, they cause merge conflicts and pointless changes in commits.
❌ Ignoring too much
✓ Solution:
Always read the generated file before you commit it. Make sure it is not excluding source files or shared configuration, such as a sample .env file, a Dockerfile or CI workflows.
❌ Treating gitignore as a fix for a leaked secret.
✓ Solution:
If a credential was already committed and pushed, it remains in your history. Rotate it right away, then add the ignore rule so it does not happen again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Select your languages, frameworks, editors and operating systems in the tool, check the preview, and download the result. Save it as .gitignore in the root of your repository.
Yes. Select templates for each part of your stack and the tool combines them into a single file, removing duplicate rules along the way.
In the root folder of your repository, ideally before the first git add ., so unwanted files are never tracked in the first place.
Git only ignores files it is not already tracking. Run git rm --cached <file> to untrack it, then commit the change.
Not if it was already committed. The secret stays in your repository’s history, so treat it as exposed and rotate it.
Yes. It is free to use and does not require an account.
Build Your .gitignore File
Choose your stack, review the preview, and download a .gitignore file that is ready for your repository root. Read it through once before you commit it.
More Like This
CSS Beautifier & Minifier
Free CSS beautifier and minifier format messy code for readability or compress it for production, with source map support.
HTML Beautifier & Minifier
Free HTML beautifier and minifier in one. Format code for readability or compress it for production, with inline CSS/JS handling, comment preservation, and live reduction stats.
JavaScript Beautifier & Minifier
Free JS beautifier and minifier in one. Format code for readability or compress it for production, with ES6+/JSX/TypeScript support, source maps, and live reduction stats.