.gitignore for Visual Studio Projects and Solutions

Question

See the official GitHub's "Collection of useful .gitignore templates".

The .gitignore for Visual Studio can be found here:
https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/main/VisualStudio.gitignore

There's an online tool which allow you to generate .gitignore file based on your OS, IDE, language, etc. Take a look at http://www.gitignore.io/.

On 8/20/2014, here's the file that is generated for Visual Studio + Windows.

# Created by http://www.gitignore.io

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

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

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

# Roslyn cache directories
*.ide/

# 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

*_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
*.opensdf
*.sdf
*.cachefile

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

# 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 addin-in
.JustCode

# TeamCity is a build add-in
_TeamCity*

# DotCover is a Code Coverage Tool
*.dotCover

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

# 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

# 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/
# If using the old MSBuild-Integrated Package Restore, uncomment this:
#!**/packages/repositories.config

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

# Windows Store app package directory
AppPackages/

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

# 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/


### Windows ###
# Windows image file caches
Thumbs.db
ehthumbs.db

# Folder config file
Desktop.ini

# Recycle Bin used on file shares
$RECYCLE.BIN/

# Windows Installer files
*.cab
*.msi
*.msm
*.msp

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

For those interested in what Microsoft thinks should be included in the gitignore, here's the default one which Visual Studio 2013 RTM automatically generates when creating a new Git-Repository:

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

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

# Build results

[Dd]ebug/
[Rr]elease/
x64/
build/
[Bb]in/
[Oo]bj/

# Enable "build/" folder in the NuGet Packages folder since NuGet packages use it for MSBuild targets
!packages/*/build/

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

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

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

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

# Guidance Automation Toolkit
*.gpState

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

# TeamCity is a build add-in
_TeamCity*

# DotCover is a Code Coverage Tool
*.dotCover

# NCrunch
*.ncrunch*
.*crunch*.local.xml

# 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
*.Publish.xml

# NuGet Packages Directory
## TODO: If you have NuGet Package Restore enabled, uncomment the next line
#packages/

# Windows Azure Build Output
csx
*.build.csdef

# Windows Store app package directory
AppPackages/

# Others
sql/
*.Cache
ClientBin/
[Ss]tyle[Cc]op.*
~$*
*~
*.dbmdl
*.[Pp]ublish.xml
*.pfx
*.publishsettings

# 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
App_Data/*.mdf
App_Data/*.ldf


#LightSwitch generated files
GeneratedArtifacts/
_Pvt_Extensions/
ModelManifest.xml

# =========================
# Windows detritus
# =========================

# Windows image file caches
Thumbs.db
ehthumbs.db

# Folder config file
Desktop.ini

# Recycle Bin used on file shares
$RECYCLE.BIN/

# Mac desktop service store files
.DS_Store

See: Add a default .gitignore file on MSDN

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.