Updated June 29, 2026

.gitignore patterns reference

A .gitignore file tells Git which files to leave untracked. Patterns match by name, path, and wildcards. Copy any pattern or the starter block below.

Syntax

Pattern	What it ignores
`*.log`	Every file ending in .log.
`build/`	A directory named build and its contents.
`/secret.txt`	secret.txt only in the repo root.
`**/temp`	A temp folder at any depth.
`!keep.log`	Negation: do not ignore keep.log.
`# comment`	A comment line, ignored by Git.

Commonly ignored

Pattern	What it ignores
`node_modules/`	Installed npm dependencies.
`.env`	Environment files with secrets.
`dist/`	Build output.
`.DS_Store`	macOS folder metadata.
`*.tmp`	Temporary files.
`.idea/`	JetBrains IDE settings.
`.vscode/`	VS Code workspace settings.
`coverage/`	Test coverage reports.

Snippet: a Node starter .gitignore

A reasonable starting point for a Node or web project.

node_modules/
dist/
build/
coverage/
.env
.env.local
.DS_Store
*.log

Already-tracked files keep being trackedAdding a pattern does not untrack a file Git already knows about. Run git rm --cached <file> to stop tracking it, then commit.

References

gitignore documentation — git-scm.com

Questions

Why is node_modules still tracked after I added it to .gitignore?

gitignore only affects untracked files. If node_modules was already committed, remove it from the index with git rm -r --cached node_modules and commit the change.

How do I ignore everything except one file?

Ignore broadly, then re-include with a negation. For example, * on one line and !keep.txt on the next keeps only keep.txt.