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Q&A How to configure .gitignore to ignore all files except a certain directory

From the docs Example to exclude everything except a specific directory foo/bar (note the /* - without the slash, the wildcard would also exclude everything within foo/bar): $ cat .gitignore...

posted 2y ago by Moshi‭  ·  edited 2y ago by Moshi‭

Answer
#2: Post edited by user avatar Moshi‭ · 2022-07-16T01:38:18Z (over 2 years ago)
  • From [the docs](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore)
  • >Example to exclude everything except a specific directory `foo/bar` (note the `/*` - without the slash, the wildcard would also exclude everything within `foo/bar`):
  • >```
  • > $ cat .gitignore
  • > # exclude everything except directory foo/bar
  • > /*
  • > !/foo
  • > /foo/*
  • > !/foo/bar
  • >```
  • Just do
  • ```
  • /*
  • !/dir
  • ```
  • From [the docs](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore)
  • >Example to exclude everything except a specific directory `foo/bar` (note the `/*` - without the slash, the wildcard would also exclude everything within `foo/bar`):
  • >```
  • > $ cat .gitignore
  • > # exclude everything except directory foo/bar
  • > /*
  • > !/foo
  • > /foo/*
  • > !/foo/bar
  • >```
  • Just do
  • ```
  • /*
  • !/dir
  • ```
  • ## Why this works (and yours doesn't)
  • When you exclude `*`, you end up excluding *everything*, directories and files alike. When you un-exclude `dir`, *the files inside aren't un-excluded as well*. This is why it doesn't appear to do anything. You can actually fix this by first un-excluding `dir` and then un-excluding everything in it like this:
  • ```
  • *
  • !/dir
  • !/dir/**/*
  • ```
  • By using `/*` though, it doesn't exclude everything, but only the top-level stuff. The files inside technically weren't excluded, but as long as the directory the files are in is excluded, the files won't be included.
  • Therefore, when you un-exclude `dir`, the files within (which hadn't been excluded) are included without a problem.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Moshi‭ · 2022-07-15T22:56:04Z (over 2 years ago)
From [the docs](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore)

>Example to exclude everything except a specific directory `foo/bar` (note the `/*` - without the slash, the wildcard would also exclude everything within `foo/bar`):
>```
>    $ cat .gitignore
>    # exclude everything except directory foo/bar
>    /*
>    !/foo
>    /foo/*
>    !/foo/bar
>```

Just do

```
/*
!/dir
```