Okay, my attempt at better wording for the docs is not going well, because it turns I that I still don't understand the behavior here! I thought that "input" means that CRLF will become LF on "git add" but that seems to be true only sometimes. For instance, consider the following 11-line shell script: mkdir empty cd empty git init git config core.autocrlf false echo -e '1\r\n2' > test.txt git add . git commit -m test git config core.autocrlf input cp test.txt t2.txt echo 'a\r\nb' > test.txt git add . The output from the last git add is: warning: CRLF will be replaced by LF in t2.txt. The file will have its original line endings in your working directory. Which is a very good warning indeed, but why does it only apply to the new file t2.txt? Why does the existing file test.txt retain its CRLF line endings. I am so confused. Any pointers? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message, and any attachments, is for the intended recipient(s) only, may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or proprietary and subject to important terms and conditions available at http://www.bankofamerica.com/emaildisclaimer. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message.