A .gitignore file tells Git which files and directories to exclude from version control. This free .gitignore generator combines authoritative templates for 40+ languages, frameworks, and tools - pick your stack and get a ready-to-use .gitignore in seconds.
Select one or more templates on the left, or jump in with a quick-start combo below.
A .gitignore file tells Git which files and directories to exclude from version control. It is a plain text file at the root of your repository where each line is a pattern - matching files (like build output, dependencies, secrets, and editor caches) are kept on disk but never committed.
Pick the languages, frameworks, editors, and tools your project uses from the selector above. The generator merges authoritative templates, dedupes overlapping rules, and gives you a ready-to-use file you can copy or download as .gitignore into the root of your repo.
Yes. Every language and framework produces its own build artifacts, lock files, and caches that should not be committed. Even a tiny project should ignore at least your editor folder, OS metadata files like .DS_Store, and any .env files containing secrets.
Yes. Select as many templates as you need - for example, Node + Next.js + macOS + VSCode. The generator combines them into a single .gitignore with section headers and removes duplicate patterns automatically so the file stays clean.
Always ignore environment files (.env, .env.local), dependency directories (node_modules, vendor, target), build output (dist, build, out), editor settings folders (.idea, .vscode/*), OS metadata (.DS_Store, Thumbs.db), and anything containing API keys or credentials.