GitGlobal .gitignore

Global .gitignore

Some files you never want in any Git repo, regardless of the project — OS metadata, editor swap files, your personal IDE settings. Instead of adding them to every project’s .gitignore, configure a global ignore file that applies to every repo on your machine.

What belongs in a global ignore

  • Operating system files — .DS_Store (macOS), Thumbs.db (Windows), *~ (Linux backups).

  • Editor swap files — *.swp, *.swo, *~, #*# (Emacs).

  • Your personal IDE settings — .idea/workspace.xml, .vscode/launch.json (if you do not share them).

  • System backup files — *.bak, *.orig.

  • Anything unique to your personal workflow that no teammate ever needs.

What does NOT belong in a global ignore

  • Project-specific patterns like node_modules/ or dist/. Those go in the project’s .gitignore so every contributor sees the same rules.

  • Anything you would want a teammate to also ignore. Global rules apply only to you.

Set up a global ignore

Two-step setup

Bash
# 1. Create a file (path is up to you)
touch ~/.gitignore_global

# 2. Tell Git to read it
git config --global core.excludesFile ~/.gitignore_global
A practical starter

~/.gitignore_global

Text
# ─── macOS ───
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride
Icon
._*
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes

# ─── Windows ───
Thumbs.db
ehthumbs.db
Desktop.ini
$RECYCLE.BIN/

# ─── Linux ───
*~
.fuse_hidden*
.directory
.Trash-*

# ─── Editors ───
*.swp
*.swo
*~
.vscode/launch.json     # personal debug configs
.idea/                  # if you do NOT want IDEA settings in any repo
*.iml
.history/

# ─── Misc ───
*.bak
*.orig
*.tmp
Default location

If you do not set core.excludesFile, Git looks at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/ignore (typically ~/.config/git/ignore). Using that path means you do not have to configure anything:

Bash
mkdir -p ~/.config/git
touch ~/.config/git/ignore
# Add your patterns there — Git finds it automatically
Verifying it works

Bash
# In any repo:
touch .DS_Store
git status
# .DS_Store should NOT appear as untracked

# To see which file ignored it:
git check-ignore -v .DS_Store
# /Users/you/.gitignore_global:1:.DS_Store    .DS_Store
Precedence

  • Per-file .gitignore (closest to the file) — highest precedence.

  • Repo-wide .gitignore files (root and parent folders).

  • .git/info/exclude — private to this clone, not committed.

  • Global excludesFile (~/.gitignore_global or ~/.config/git/ignore) — lowest precedence.

  • Within each, later rules override earlier rules (and ! negations re-include).

Repo-private excludes — .git/info/exclude

If you have local files you want to ignore only in this clone — without touching the shared .gitignore — add them to .git/info/exclude. The file uses the same syntax as .gitignore but is not committed.

Bash
echo "scratch.txt" >> .git/info/exclude
# scratch.txt is now ignored in this clone only
The distinction in one sentence
`~/.gitignore_global` is for *you across all repos*; a project `.gitignore` is for *everyone working on this repo*; `.git/info/exclude` is for *you in this single clone*.
GitHub-style templates

  • GitHub publishes a curated Global folder at https://github.com/github/gitignore/tree/main/Global — drop-in files for OSes, editors, and tools.

  • Copy the patterns relevant to you into ~/.gitignore_global and trim as needed.

  • Update them once a year — new tools introduce new junk files.

Tip
Pin your global ignore inside your dotfiles repo on GitHub. On every new machine, clone dotfiles → symlink → run git config --global core.excludesFile once → you never have to type these rules again.