What Visual Studio files should be ignored by subversion to minimize conflicts?

  • bin and obj directories
  • *.user files (MyProject.csproj.user)
  • *.suo files

Also, if you are using Visual Studio 2015 the .vs directory.


I have had good luck with this global ignore pattern:

*bin *obj *suo *.user *.tmp *.TMP 
*resharper* *Resharper* *ReSharper* *.Load *.gpState 
Thumbs.db *.~m2

I am running the Resharper plugin, so you can probably ignore that. ".~m2" is for a temporary file my data modeler creates.

Update: Thanks for the up-vote. I've recently added Mac, Dreamweaver, Python, and a few more Visual Studio files that should be ignored.

*.o *.lo *.la *.al .libs *.so *.so.[0-9]* *.a *.pyc *.pyo *.rej *~ #*# .#* .*.swp
*[Bb]in *obj *suo *resharp* *.user *.tmp *.TMP *Resharper*
*ReSharper* *.Load *.gpState *.NoLoad  *.~m2 *.dbmdl _notes *.cache
[Tt]est[Rr]esult [Bb]uild[Ll]og.* *.[Pp]ublish.xml *.[Cc]ache [Tt]humbs.db lint.db
*.docstates .apdisk [Ll]ogs .DS_Store *.bak *.vs

Something else, if someone accidentally checks in a folder or file that should be ignored, then you will need to manually remove the files from the repository before SVN will start ignoring them again. This is because files that are already in the repo will override any ignore settings.


Old thread, but I want to add that you could use the gitignore example from GitHub, found here, for a good starting point.

## Ignore Visual Studio temporary files, build results, and
## files generated by popular Visual Studio add-ons.
##
## Get latest from https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/VisualStudio.gitignore

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

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

# Build results
[Dd]ebug/
[Dd]ebugPublic/
[Rr]elease/
[Rr]eleases/
x64/
x86/
bld/
[Bb]in/
[Oo]bj/
[Ll]og/

# 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
project.fragment.lock.json
artifacts/
**/Properties/launchSettings.json

*_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
*.VC.VC.opendb

# 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

# Visual Studio code coverage results
*.coverage
*.coveragexml

# 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: Comment the next line if you want to checkin your web deploy settings
# but database connection strings (with potential passwords) will be unencrypted
*.pubxml
*.publishproj

# Microsoft Azure Web App publish settings. Comment the next line if you want to
# checkin your Azure Web App publish settings, but sensitive information contained
# in these scripts will be unencrypted
PublishScripts/

# 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/

# Windows Store app package directories and files
AppPackages/
BundleArtifacts/
Package.StoreAssociation.xml
_pkginfo.txt

# 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/
~$*
*~
*.dbmdl
*.dbproj.schemaview
*.jfm
*.pfx
*.publishsettings
node_modules/
orleans.codegen.cs

# Since there are multiple workflows, uncomment next line to ignore bower_components
# (https://github.com/github/gitignore/pull/1529#issuecomment-104372622)
#bower_components/

# 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 6 auto-generated workspace file (contains which files were open etc.)
*.vbw

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

# Paket dependency manager
.paket/paket.exe
paket-files/

# FAKE - F# Make
.fake/

# JetBrains Rider
.idea/
*.sln.iml

# CodeRush
.cr/

# Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS)
__pycache__/
*.pyc

# Cake - Uncomment if you are using it
# tools/

  • *.bin
  • *.obj
  • *.exe
  • *.dll
  • *.pch
  • *.user
  • *.suo
  • *.tlb
  • TestResults (VSTS unit test directory)

  • 'bin' directory is a good start (as @Kevin says).
  • You would do well to ignore the 'obj' directory too.
  • *.suo and *.user would be best left out of source control.
  • *.VisualState.xml is going to be personal choice too.
  • TestResults.xml (if you're using NUnit)