.gitignore not working: files that should be ignored still get committed

Question

I\'m trying to create a new git repository from existing folder. I\'ve created a .gitignore file in the root of the folder. But if I say

git add         


        

Answer 1

Your file must still be tracked, you can see by doing git status that will show you that your file is modified even if it's in .gitignore
You need to do this:

git update-index --assume-unchanged [path_to_file]

Answer 2

Comment line as the first line of the file is critical! I spent considerable time trying to exclude files only to find that GIT was ignoring the first line in the ignore file.

Answer 3

Try "git add ." instead.

Also, it works for me (on Linux):

$ git init
$ echo foo > .gitignore
$ echo foo > foo
$ echo bar > bar
$ git add -v *
The following paths are ignored by one of your .gitignore files:
foo
Use -f if you really want to add them.
fatal: no files added