You could update your index: git update-index --assume-unchanged nbproject/project.properties and make sure it never shows as "updated" in your current repo.That means it won't ever been pushed, but it is still present in the index.(and it can b
git update-index should do what you want This will tell git you want to start ignoring the changes to the file git update-index --assume-unchanged path/to/file When you want to start keeping track again git update-index --no-assume-unchanged path/to/