.gitignore Generator – Node, Python, Java, macOS, IDEs

Q: Why is a file still tracked after I added it to .gitignore?

Git only ignores untracked files. Run `git rm --cached ` (or `-r` for folders), commit, and it will be ignored from then on.

What is .gitignore Generator?

A .gitignore file tells Git which files to leave out of version control, such as dependencies, build output, logs, secrets and editor settings. Tick the languages, frameworks, operating systems and editors your project uses and the tool combines curated templates into one clean .gitignore, removing duplicate patterns.

How to use .gitignore Generator

Tick the templates you need under Languages, Frameworks, Operating systems and Editors and IDEs (use Filter templates to find one).
Add project-specific lines under Extra patterns.
Copy the result or download it as .gitignore and put it in the root of your repository.

Example

Input

Node.js + macOS

Output

# ===== Node.js =====
# Dependencies
node_modules/
jspm_packages/
…
# Environment
.env
.env.*
!.env.example

# ===== macOS =====
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride
._*
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes

When to use .gitignore Generator

Use it when starting a repository or when adding a new tool to a project. Note that .gitignore only affects untracked files: if a file is already committed, remove it from the index with git rm --cached <file> first. Commit the .gitignore itself so the whole team shares it; put personal editor files in your global gitignore instead if you prefer.

How .gitignore Generator works

The templates are curated from the widely used github/gitignore collection and trimmed to the essentials. They are concatenated in a fixed order (languages → frameworks → OS → editors), each under a # ===== Name ===== header. A pattern that already appeared in an earlier template is skipped, comment headers left without patterns are dropped, and extra patterns you add are appended under a Custom section if they are not already present.