Gitignore not working

The files/folder in your version control will not just delete themselves just because you added them to the .gitignore. They are already in the repository and you have to remove them. You can just do that with this:

Remember to commit everything you've changed before you do this!

git rm -rf --cached .
git add .

This removes all files from the repository and adds them back (this time respecting the rules in your .gitignore).

@Ahmad's answer is working but if you just want to git ignore 1 specific file or few files do as @Nicolas suggests

Step 1

add filename to .gitignore file

Step 2

[remove filename (file path) from git cache

git rm --cached filename

Step 3

commit changes git add filename

git commit -m "add filename to .gitignore"

It will keep your git history clean because if you do git rm -r --cached . and add back all and commit them it will pollute your git history (it will show that you add a lot of files at one commit) not sure am I expressing my thought right but hope you get the point

To untrack a single file that has already been added/initialized to your repository, i.e., stop tracking the file but not delete it from your system use: git rm --cached filename

To untrack every file that is now in your .gitignore:

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

git rm -r --cached .

This removes any changed files from the index(staging area), then just run:

git add .

Commit it:

git commit -m ".gitignore is now working"