Git still adds and tracks folders marked in .gitignore

Question

I have a few folders in Git added in my ".gitignore" file. They contain over 100k files. Mainly images, tmp and cache stuff. What I need is to be able to commit changes to my code with out committing what happens in those folders.

I thought adding them into the ".gitignore" would do the trick but for some reason it's not working at all. I haven't been able to commit anything to the repo in days because every time I try the push command it tries sending 100k files then it freezes and times out.

root@serveur [/home/***/***]# git push origin master
Password:
Counting objects: 110300, done.

How can I force Git to reindex the tree while taking in consideration the ignored folders so I can finally commit all the changes I made to the code?

score 95 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

95

The reason it isn't working is (probably) because you added some of those files before you added the .gitignore - so you have to remove them from git before they're able to be ignored.

Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/1139797/2128691

First, commit any outstanding code changes, and then, run this command:

git rm -r --cached .

This removes everything from the index, then just run:

git add .

Commit it:

git commit -m ".gitignore is now working"

edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

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answered Aug 24 '13 at 12:48

dax

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Please note that the commits including those files from **before that commit** will still be there. So this will not make your repository any smaller, instead git will stop tracking those files **in the future**. – Nils Werner Aug 24 '13 at 12:49
Thanks a lot! perfectly explained. – Agustin Barrachina Oct 09 '18 at 13:15
Does it keep git history alive? git .add looks like it starts new history. What git rm -r --cached does with historical comits? – Čamo Feb 05 '20 at 19:54
@Čamo see the first comment - historical commits will remain. – dax Feb 05 '20 at 20:32
this doesn't work, git still tries to push files in .gitignore – Sarim Mehdi Jan 22 '22 at 20:24
@SarimMehdi did you run `git rm -r --cached .`? – dax Mar 12 '22 at 16:07

Git still adds and tracks folders marked in .gitignore

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