How can I distinguish untracked files from ignored files in Git status?

Look for two different signs. An untracked path normally appears as ?? in status output. An ignored path is usually omitted from ordinary status; ask Git to include ignored files with git status --ignored, where ignored entries are marked !!. [S1]

For example, if the hypothetical file is notes/draft.txt, run:

git status
git status --ignored

If notes/draft.txt appears with ??, it is untracked. If it appears with !!, Git is reporting it as ignored. If it appears in neither output, that still does not prove it is ignored: configuration can suppress untracked-file reporting. [S1]

Ask Git to check the exact path and show the matching rule, if there is one:

git check-ignore -v notes/draft.txt

When the path matches an ignore pattern, verbose output identifies the source and pattern responsible. [S2] That helps distinguish, for instance, a rule matching *.txt from one aimed only at a particular directory. These are hypothetical examples: the command’s output tells you what applies in your repository.

A path that produces no report by default is not necessarily ignored. To also make non-matching paths visible, use verbose output with --non-matching:

git check-ignore -v --non-matching notes/draft.txt

A non-match means this check did not find an ignore pattern for that path; it does not, by itself, explain why ordinary status omitted it. [S2]

Possibly. Git normally does not check tracked files with git check-ignore; the command has a --no-index option for checking them anyway. [S2] So a quiet result is not proof that the file is ignored, and for a tracked path the default check may not be informative.

If you specifically need to test a tracked path against ignore patterns, try:

git check-ignore -v --no-index notes/draft.txt

Use this to investigate the ignore rule, not as a substitute for understanding the file’s tracking state. The command’s result describes whether an ignore pattern matches; it does not establish why a particular file is absent from your status output. [S2]

Treat each result as evidence about one question, not as a complete diagnosis. For a hypothetical notes/draft.txt, you might record:

Ordinary status: absent
Status with --ignored: absent
check-ignore: no matching pattern
Tracking status: not yet established

This rules out a matching ignore pattern in that check, but does not explain the status output or prove the file’s tracking state. Configuration can suppress untracked-file reporting, and the default ignore check normally skips tracked paths. [S1] [S2]

Keep the path and command results together as you investigate. If you need to check a potentially tracked path against ignore rules, use --no-index; otherwise, do not infer more from an absent or non-matching result than the command establishes.