How to Make Git Forget About a File That Was Tracked But Is Now in .gitignore

You've added a file to your .gitignore file, but Git continues to track changes to it because the file was already committed to the repository. This commonly happens with configuration files, build artifacts, or IDE settings that you initially committed but later realized should be ignored.

In this guide, you'll learn how to make Git stop tracking files that are now in your .gitignore while keeping them in your local working directory.

Prerequisites

You'll need Git installed and a repository where you've already committed files that you now want to ignore. Basic understanding of Git's tracking system and .gitignore functionality will help you follow along.

Understanding the Problem

Git's .gitignore file only prevents untracked files from being added to the repository. If a file is already being tracked (has been committed previously), adding it to .gitignore won't stop Git from tracking future changes to that file.

You can verify this by checking the status after adding a tracked file to .gitignore:

# Add file to .gitignore
echo "config/database.yml" >> .gitignore

# Modify the ignored file
echo "new_setting: value" >> config/database.yml

# Git still shows the file as modified
git status

Even though config/database.yml is now in .gitignore, Git still tracks changes because the file was committed before being ignored.

Using git rm --cached to Stop Tracking

The solution is to remove the file from Git's tracking index while keeping it in your working directory:

git rm --cached config/database.yml

This command removes the file from Git's index (staging area) but leaves the actual file untouched in your working directory. The --cached flag is crucial - without it, git rm would delete the file entirely.

After running this command, commit the change:

git commit -m "Stop tracking config/database.yml"

Now Git will no longer track changes to this file, and it will be properly ignored according to your .gitignore rules.

Handling Multiple Files

When you need to stop tracking multiple files, you can specify them all in one command:

git rm --cached config/database.yml config/secrets.yml logs/debug.log

For files in directories, you can remove entire directories from tracking:

git rm --cached -r logs/
git rm --cached -r tmp/cache/

The -r flag recursively removes all files in the specified directory from tracking.

Using Patterns and Wildcards

You can use Git's pattern matching to remove multiple files that match a pattern:

# Remove all .log files from tracking
git rm --cached "*.log"

# Remove all files in a directory pattern
git rm --cached "config/*.local"

# Remove files with specific extensions
git rm --cached "*.env" "*.secret"

Be careful with wildcards and always verify what files will be affected before committing.

Complete Workflow Example

Here's a complete example of the process from start to finish:

# 1. Add files to .gitignore
cat >> .gitignore << EOF
# Environment files
.env
.env.local
.env.production

# Database configuration
config/database.yml

# Log files
logs/*.log
tmp/
EOF

# 2. Remove the files from Git tracking
git rm --cached .env config/database.yml
git rm --cached -r logs/ tmp/

# 3. Commit the changes
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Add .gitignore and stop tracking sensitive files"

# 4. Verify files are no longer tracked
git status  # Should show clean working directory

Handling Files Already Modified

If you've modified files before removing them from tracking, you might see them listed as deleted in git status:

git rm --cached config/database.yml
git status
# deleted:    config/database.yml

This is normal - Git shows the file as deleted from the repository perspective, even though it still exists locally. Commit this change to complete the process:

git commit -m "Stop tracking config/database.yml"

Team Collaboration Considerations

When working with a team, coordinate the removal of tracked files to avoid confusion:

# Create a comprehensive .gitignore update
git checkout -b update-gitignore
git rm --cached config/secrets.yml .env
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Stop tracking sensitive configuration files

- Add .env and config/secrets.yml to .gitignore
- Remove these files from Git tracking
- Files remain locally but won't be committed going forward"

# Push and create pull request
git push origin update-gitignore

Include clear documentation about which files team members need to create locally after the change is merged.

Alternative: Using git update-index

For temporary ignoring without removing from the repository, you can use:

git update-index --skip-worktree config/database.yml

This tells Git to ignore changes to the file temporarily, but the file remains in the repository. To undo this:

git update-index --no-skip-worktree config/database.yml

However, git rm --cached is preferred for permanent ignoring because it actually removes the file from the repository.

Common Scenarios

Environment Configuration Files

# Stop tracking various environment files
git rm --cached .env .env.local .env.production
echo ".env*" >> .gitignore
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Stop tracking environment files"

IDE and Editor Files

# Stop tracking IDE configuration
git rm --cached -r .vscode/ .idea/
echo ".vscode/" >> .gitignore
echo ".idea/" >> .gitignore
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Stop tracking IDE configuration files"

Build Artifacts and Dependencies

# Stop tracking build outputs
git rm --cached -r dist/ build/ node_modules/
cat >> .gitignore << EOF
dist/
build/
node_modules/
EOF
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Stop tracking build artifacts and dependencies"

Verifying the Changes

After removing files from tracking, verify that Git is properly ignoring them:

# Modify a file that should now be ignored
echo "test change" >> config/database.yml

# Check status - file should not appear as modified
git status

# Verify .gitignore is working
git check-ignore config/database.yml
# Should output: config/database.yml

Recovering Mistakenly Removed Files

If you accidentally removed files without the --cached flag:

# Check what was deleted
git status

# Restore files from the last commit
git checkout HEAD -- config/database.yml

# Then properly remove from tracking
git rm --cached config/database.yml

Best Practices

Add comprehensive .gitignore rules before committing files to avoid this situation:

# Start with a good .gitignore template
curl -o .gitignore https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/main/Node.gitignore

Review your repository periodically for files that should be ignored:

# Find large files that might be build artifacts
git ls-files | xargs ls -la | sort -k5 -rn | head

# Look for common files that should be ignored
git ls-files | grep -E '\.(log|tmp|cache)$'

Document any manual setup required after removing tracked files so team members know what local files they need to create.

Understanding how to properly remove files from Git tracking while preserving them locally is essential for maintaining clean repositories. This process ensures sensitive or environment-specific files don't clutter your project history while still being available for local development.