My problem is similar to the one outlined in this post, but the solution did not help. I essentially have one Github repository with a whole bunch of different folders/directories that each contain a separate Android project.
The structure of one such project looks like MyTeamRepo -> MyAndroidProject -> app
Normally if it was just a single Android project, throwing the .gitignore in the /gradle directory would work, but it's not working out in my case.
Here's what's currently in my .gitignore:
# Built application files
*.apk
*.ap_
*.aab
# Files for the ART/Dalvik VM
*.dex
# Java class files
*.class
# Generated files
bin/
gen/
out/
# Gradle files
.gradle/
build/
# Local configuration file (sdk path, etc)
local.properties
# Proguard folder generated by Eclipse
proguard/
# Log Files
*.log
# Android Studio Navigation editor temp files
.navigation/
# Android Studio captures folder
captures/
# IntelliJ
*.iml
.idea/workspace.xml
.idea/misc.xml
.idea/tasks.xml
.idea/gradle.xml
.idea/assetWizardSettings.xml
.idea/dictionaries
.idea/libraries
.idea/caches
# Android Studio 3 in .gitignore file.
.idea/caches/build_file_checksums.ser
.idea/modules.xml
# Keystore files
# Uncomment the following lines if you do not want to check your keystore files in.
#*.jks
#*.keystore
# External native build folder generated in Android Studio 2.2 and later
.externalNativeBuild
# Google Services (e.g. APIs or Firebase)
google-services.json
# Freeline
freeline.py
freeline/
freeline_project_description.json
# fastlane
fastlane/report.xml
fastlane/Preview.html
fastlane/screenshots
fastlane/test_output
fastlane/readme.md
# Version control
vcs.xml
# lint
lint/intermediates/
lint/generated/
lint/outputs/
lint/tmp/
lint/reports/
My problem is I still keep having these .idea and .gradle files popping up everywhere within the subfolders every time I make any changes to the Android project, causing all sorts of merge conflicts when I try to pull changes from Github.
I also think part of the problem is that the .idea had previously been committed to Github and now I am always tracking it.
What steps do I need to take to completely clean my repository and to make sure the .gitignore is doing its job?
If you want to ignore a file anywhere in the tree use something like
**/.idea/modules.xml
and no matter where the .idea directory is that the modules.xml file will be ignored.