.gitignore for Visual Studio Projects and Solution

Question

Which files should I include in .gitignore when using Git in conjunction with Visual Studio Solutions (.sln) and Projects?

Answer 1

Added InstallShield ignores for the build deployment. InstallShield is the new direction Microsoft is headed over Visual Studio Installer, so we've started using it on all new projects. This added line removes the SingleImage installation files. Other InstallShield types may include DVD distribution among others. You may want to add those directory names or just [Ee]xpress/ to prevent any InstallShield LE deployment files from getting into the repo.

Here is our .gitignore for VS2010 C# projects using Install Shield LE with SingleImage deployments for the installer:

#OS junk files
[Tt]humbs.db
*.DS_Store

#Visual Studio files
*.[Oo]bj
*.exe
*.pdb
*.user
*.aps
*.pch
*.vspscc
*.vssscc
*_i.c
*_p.c
*.ncb
*.suo
*.tlb
*.tlh
*.bak
*.[Cc]ache
*.ilk
*.log
*.lib
*.sbr
*.sdf
ipch/
obj/
[Bb]in
[Dd]ebug*/
[Rr]elease*/
Ankh.NoLoad

#InstallShield
[Ss]ingle[Ii]mage/
[Dd][Vv][Dd]-5/
[Ii]nterm/

#Tooling
_ReSharper*/
*.resharper
[Tt]est[Rr]esult*

#Project files
[Bb]uild/

#Subversion files
.svn

# Office Temp Files
~$*

Answer 2

If you are using a dbproj in your solution you will want to add the following:

#Visual Studio DB Project
*.dbmdl
[Ss]ql/

Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bahill/archive/2009/07/31/come-visit-revisit-the-beer-house-continuous-integration.aspx

Answer 3

On Visual Studio 2015 Update 3, and with Git extension updated as of today (2016-10-24), the .gitignore generated by Visual Studio is:

## Ignore Visual Studio temporary files, build results, and
## files generated by popular Visual Studio add-ons.

# User-specific files
*.suo
*.user
*.userosscache
*.sln.docstates

# User-specific files (MonoDevelop/Xamarin Studio)
*.userprefs

# Build results
[Dd]ebug/
[Dd]ebugPublic/
[Rr]elease/
[Rr]eleases/
[Xx]64/
[Xx]86/
[Bb]uild/
bld/
[Bb]in/
[Oo]bj/

# Visual Studio 2015 cache/options directory
.vs/
# Uncomment if you have tasks that create the project's static files in wwwroot
#wwwroot/

# MSTest test Results
[Tt]est[Rr]esult*/
[Bb]uild[Ll]og.*

# NUNIT
*.VisualState.xml
TestResult.xml

# Build Results of an ATL Project
[Dd]ebugPS/
[Rr]eleasePS/
dlldata.c

# DNX
project.lock.json
artifacts/

*_i.c
*_p.c
*_i.h
*.ilk
*.meta
*.obj
*.pch
*.pdb
*.pgc
*.pgd
*.rsp
*.sbr
*.tlb
*.tli
*.tlh
*.tmp
*.tmp_proj
*.log
*.vspscc
*.vssscc
.builds
*.pidb
*.svclog
*.scc

# Chutzpah Test files
_Chutzpah*

# Visual C++ cache files
ipch/
*.aps
*.ncb
*.opendb
*.opensdf
*.sdf
*.cachefile
*.VC.db

# Visual Studio profiler
*.psess
*.vsp
*.vspx
*.sap

# TFS 2012 Local Workspace
$tf/

# Guidance Automation Toolkit
*.gpState

# ReSharper is a .NET coding add-in
_ReSharper*/
*.[Rr]e[Ss]harper
*.DotSettings.user

# JustCode is a .NET coding add-in
.JustCode

# TeamCity is a build add-in
_TeamCity*

# DotCover is a Code Coverage Tool
*.dotCover

# NCrunch
_NCrunch_*
.*crunch*.local.xml
nCrunchTemp_*

# MightyMoose
*.mm.*
AutoTest.Net/

# Web workbench (sass)
.sass-cache/

# Installshield output folder
[Ee]xpress/

# DocProject is a documentation generator add-in
DocProject/buildhelp/
DocProject/Help/*.HxT
DocProject/Help/*.HxC
DocProject/Help/*.hhc
DocProject/Help/*.hhk
DocProject/Help/*.hhp
DocProject/Help/Html2
DocProject/Help/html

# Click-Once directory
publish/

# Publish Web Output
*.[Pp]ublish.xml
*.azurePubxml

# TODO: Un-comment the next line if you do not want to checkin 
# your web deploy settings because they may include unencrypted
# passwords
#*.pubxml
*.publishproj

# NuGet Packages
*.nupkg
# The packages folder can be ignored because of Package Restore
**/packages/*
# except build/, which is used as an MSBuild target.
!**/packages/build/
# Uncomment if necessary however generally it will be regenerated when needed
#!**/packages/repositories.config
# NuGet v3's project.json files produces more ignoreable files
*.nuget.props
*.nuget.targets

# Microsoft Azure Build Output
csx/
*.build.csdef

# Microsoft Azure Emulator
ecf/
rcf/

# Microsoft Azure ApplicationInsights config file
ApplicationInsights.config

# Windows Store app package directory
AppPackages/
BundleArtifacts/

# Visual Studio cache files
# files ending in .cache can be ignored
*.[Cc]ache
# but keep track of directories ending in .cache
!*.[Cc]ache/

# Others
ClientBin/
[Ss]tyle[Cc]op.*
~$*
*~
*.dbmdl
*.dbproj.schemaview
*.pfx
*.publishsettings
node_modules/
orleans.codegen.cs

# RIA/Silverlight projects
Generated_Code/

# Backup & report files from converting an old project file
# to a newer Visual Studio version. Backup files are not needed,
# because we have git ;-)
_UpgradeReport_Files/
Backup*/
UpgradeLog*.XML
UpgradeLog*.htm

# SQL Server files
*.mdf
*.ldf

# Business Intelligence projects
*.rdl.data
*.bim.layout
*.bim_*.settings

# Microsoft Fakes
FakesAssemblies/

# GhostDoc plugin setting file
*.GhostDoc.xml

# Node.js Tools for Visual Studio
.ntvs_analysis.dat

# Visual Studio 6 build log
*.plg

# Visual Studio 6 workspace options file
*.opt

# Visual Studio LightSwitch build output
**/*.HTMLClient/GeneratedArtifacts
**/*.DesktopClient/GeneratedArtifacts
**/*.DesktopClient/ModelManifest.xml
**/*.Server/GeneratedArtifacts
**/*.Server/ModelManifest.xml
_Pvt_Extensions

# LightSwitch generated files
GeneratedArtifacts/
ModelManifest.xml

# Paket dependency manager
.paket/paket.exe

# FAKE - F# Make
.fake/

Answer 4

While you should keep your NuGet packages.config file, you should exclude the packages folder:

#NuGet
packages/

I typically don't store binaries, or anything generated from my source, in source control. There are differing opinions on this however. If it makes things easier for your build system, do it! I would however, argue that you are not versioning these dependencies, so they will just take up space in your repository. Storing the binaries in a central location, then relying on the packages.config file to indicate which version is needed is a better solution, in my opinion.

Answer 5

I use the following .gitignore for C# projects. Additional patterns are added as and when they are needed.

[Oo]bj
[Bb]in
*.user
*.suo
*.[Cc]ache
*.bak
*.ncb
*.log 
*.DS_Store
[Tt]humbs.db 
_ReSharper.*
*.resharper
Ankh.NoLoad

Answer 6

I prefer to exclude things on an as-needed basis. You don't want to shotgun exclude everything with the string "bin" or "obj" in the name. At least be sure to follow those with a slash.

Here's what I start with on a VS2010 project:

bin/
obj/
*.suo
*.user

And only because I use ReSharper, also this:

_ReSharper*