Gitignore Generator

Back

1. Rule groups

Stored on this page

Choose groups

Order of selected groups

No groups selected yet.

Custom rules (one per line, plain text)

Add a # heading comment for each group

2. .gitignore

Choose rule groups or add custom rules.

Generated .gitignore (copied and downloaded exactly as shown)

The download is named .gitignore, but most browsers drop the leading dot (Chrome saves “gitignore”; others may save “_gitignore”). Rename the file to .gitignore.

About this tool

About Gitignore Generator

Gitignore Generator builds a .gitignore file from rule groups for Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, macOS, Windows, Linux, logs and environment files, plus your own rules. Groups are merged in the order you choose, and duplicate rules are removed while keeping a sensible order.

A good .gitignore keeps dependencies, build output, editor settings, OS clutter and secrets out of a repository. Combining several sets by hand usually leaves duplicates and gaps.

How to use

Step by step

Tick the rule groups that match your project and tools.
Expand a group to review its rules if you like.
Reorder or remove selected groups.
Add any custom rules, one per line.
Copy the output or download the .gitignore file.

Key features

What it offers

Eleven transparent rule groups stored on the page
Group order you control
Duplicate rules removed, with negation-aware handling
Custom rules treated as plain text
Optional heading comment for each group
Copy and download as .gitignore

Best practices

Tips for best results

Commit .gitignore early, before adding other files.
Never commit real secrets; ignore .env files and keep an example file.
Ignore build output rather than source files.
Use git rm --cached for files that were committed before being ignored.

Benefits

Why people use it

Transparent

See every rule before using it.

Clean

No duplicate lines.

Flexible

Reorder and add your own rules.

Private

Generated in your browser.

FAQ

Common questions

They are stored in this page, not downloaded. Each group’s rules can be expanded under its checkbox so you can see exactly what will be added before you use it.

When groups share a rule — such as build/ in Python and Node.js — it is written once, where it first appears. A repeat is kept only when a negation rule (starting with !) added in between could re-include files that the rule matches, because the later copy then changes the result.

Yes. Selected groups appear in a list where you can move them up or down or remove them. The output follows that order, with your custom rules at the end.

No. They are treated as plain text and added as written (trailing spaces trimmed, blank lines skipped, # comments kept). Nothing is run or compared against a repository.

Browsers often refuse file names that start with a dot. Chrome, for example, saves it as “gitignore”, and other browsers may use “_gitignore”. Rename the file to .gitignore after downloading.

The Environment files group ignores .env and .env.* but keeps .env.example and .env.sample, which usually hold placeholder values. Check that no real secrets are in them.

No. It only affects untracked files. Files that are already committed stay tracked until you remove them from the index, for example with git rm --cached.

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Private by design

This runs entirely in your browser

No file or text you enter here is uploaded. Encoding and decoding happen on your device using native browser APIs — close the tab and nothing remains on a server.

How privacy works