What does (master *) in git mean?

Question

I am just a beginner learning git. In git bash after I've made changes to a file, the (master) changes to (master *) or (master +). Why and when does that happen?

Answer 1

Master * means you have tracked files that are changed within your git repo that have not been committed.

Untracked files (ie those in the gitignore) will not trigger this character to show.

---

Master + means you have commits to your local repository that have not yet been pushed to your remote repository.