Gitignore for macOS

Gitignore for macOS

This example generates a comprehensive .gitignore file for macOS development. It includes patterns for .DS_Store files, macOS system files, Xcode artifacts, and other Apple-specific files that shouldn’t be committed to version control.

What’s Included

macOS System Files

• .DS_Store: Finder folder settings
• ._*: macOS resource forks
• .AppleDouble: macOS extended attributes
• .LSOverride: Finder icon cache
• .Spotlight-V100: Spotlight index
• .Trashes: Trash folder
• Icon?: Custom icon files

Xcode (if applicable)

• *.xcuserdata: User-specific Xcode settings
• *.xcworkspace: Workspace files (usually)
• DerivedData/: Build artifacts
• *.hmap: Header maps
• *.ipa: iOS app archives
• *.dSYM.zip: Debug symbols
• *.dSYM: Debug symbols folder

Time Machine

• *.backup: Time Machine backups

How to Use

1. Click “Generate” to create the .gitignore file
2. Copy the generated content
3. Create a .gitignore file in your project root
4. Paste the content and save
5. If you have existing .DS_Store files, remove them from git tracking

Removing Existing .DS_Store Files

If .DS_Store files are already tracked in your repository:

# Find and delete all .DS_Store files
find . -name .DS_Store -delete

# Untrack them from git
git rm --cached .DS_Store

# Add to .gitignore (if not already there)
echo ".DS_Store" >> .gitignore

# Commit the changes
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Remove .DS_Store files from tracking"

Global Gitignore (Recommended)

Set up a global gitignore to ignore macOS files in all your projects:

# Create global gitignore
echo -e ".DS_Store\n._*\n.AppleDouble\n.LSOverride\n.Spotlight-V100\n.Trashes\nIcon?" > ~/.gitignore_global

# Configure git to use it
git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

This way, you never have to add macOS-specific patterns to each project’s .gitignore.