Creating Files Like .gitconfig In Windows

In the Linux & Unix world it is common to have hidden configuration files, whose name begins with a period, .

A common example that as a developer you have probably come across is a .gitconfig. Another is the .gitignore.

These are very easy to create in the console.

In the Linux & Unix world there is the touch command.

This is not present in PowerShell, so you will need to implement it yourself. I have outlined how to create the command and alias in this post - Touch In PowerShell.

With this in place, you can now do the following:

touch .gitignore

This will create an empty file with the specified name.

Alternatively, at least in Windows 11, most save file dialogs will allow you to save a file directly with the desired name. Windows Explorer also allows you to rename an existing file.

Happy hacking!