Lazygit/Q/How do I get lazygit to show files and folders that begin with a dot or period, aka hidden files and folders?
How do I get Lazygit to show files and folders that begin with a dot or period, aka hidden files and folders?
Answer
- AI/Response
- Lazygit does not implement a separate “show hidden / dotfiles” mode like a file browser. The Files panel is built from whatever
git status reports for the repo, and the user config has no gui.showHiddenFiles-style switch. - If dot-prefixed paths are missing, check these (in order):
- 1. Ignore rules — Paths may be excluded by
.gitignore, .git/info/exclude, or a global exclude file. Git (and therefore lazygit) will not list ignored untracked files. - 2.
status.showUntrackedFiles — If Git is set to hide untracked files (git config status.showUntrackedFiles is no or false), lazygit’s Files view will not show untracked entries, including many dotfiles people expect to see. Set to normal / yes if you want untracked files back. See git-config: status.showUntrackedFiles. - 3. Tree view — In tree mode, ensure directories are expanded (
= expand all, - collapse all; Enter on a folder toggles that folder) so nested content is visible. - 4. Status filter — Use the Files panel “filter files by status” binding (default
Ctrl+b per Keybindings_en.md) if a filter is hiding untracked or other groups. - 5. Misleading “dot-folder” bugs — Older reports of “files under
.something not showing” were often parse issues when git status emitted warnings, not lazygit hiding dots. Update lazygit if you see git status warnings and a sparse file list.
- Note: A GitHub Q&A thread titled “Show hidden files by default” was about LazyVim / snacks.nvim, not lazygit; there is no lazygit equivalent of that editor toggle.
My Notes
Related