diff --git a/lib/copy-examples.js b/lib/copy-examples.js
index 8ca2282815..792740f2ce 100755
--- a/lib/copy-examples.js
+++ b/lib/copy-examples.js
@@ -149,6 +149,21 @@ if (feature === "translations") {
       )} to see the example blog posts on your site.\n`
     );
   }
+  // copy .gitignore file
+  if (fs.existsSync(CWD + "/.gitignore")) {
+    console.log(
+      `${chalk.yellow(".gitignore already exists")} in ${chalk.yellow(
+        "website/"
+      )}. Rename or remove the file to regenerate an example version.\n`
+    );
+  } else {
+    fs.copySync(path.join(folder, ".gitignore"), path.join(CWD, ".gitignore"));
+    console.log(
+      `${chalk.green("Example .gitignore file created")} in ${chalk.yellow(
+        "website/"
+      )}.\n`
+    );
+  }
   // copy other files
   let files = glob.sync(folder + "/**/*");
   files.forEach(file => {