diff --git a/dvc/ignore.py b/dvc/ignore.py
index 0e80a02103..f6d5afae15 100644
--- a/dvc/ignore.py
+++ b/dvc/ignore.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def from_files(cls, ignore_file_path, tree):
                 for line_no, line in enumerate(
                     map(str.strip, fobj.readlines())
                 )
-                if line
+                if line and not (line.strip().startswith("#"))
             ]
 
         return cls(path_spec_lines, dirname)
@@ -314,3 +314,18 @@ def check_ignore(self, target):
                 if matches:
                     return CheckIgnoreResult(target, True, matches)
         return CheckIgnoreResult(target, False, ["::"])
+
+
+def init(path):
+    dvcignore = os.path.join(path, DvcIgnore.DVCIGNORE_FILE)
+    if os.path.exists(dvcignore):
+        return dvcignore
+
+    with open(dvcignore, "w") as fobj:
+        fobj.write(
+            "# Add patterns of files dvc should ignore, which could improve\n"
+            "# the performance. Learn more at\n"
+            "# https://dvc.org/doc/user-guide/dvcignore\n"
+        )
+
+    return dvcignore
diff --git a/dvc/repo/init.py b/dvc/repo/init.py
index 695d83bcb3..67701c99d3 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/init.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/init.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from dvc import analytics
 from dvc.config import Config
 from dvc.exceptions import InitError, InvalidArgumentError
+from dvc.ignore import init as init_dvcignore
 from dvc.repo import Repo
 from dvc.scm import SCM
 from dvc.scm.base import SCMError
@@ -99,9 +100,13 @@ def init(root_dir=os.curdir, no_scm=False, force=False, subdir=False):
         with config.edit() as conf:
             conf["core"]["no_scm"] = True
 
+    dvcignore = init_dvcignore(root_dir)
+
     proj = Repo(root_dir)
 
-    scm.add([config.files["repo"], proj.plot_templates.templates_dir])
+    scm.add(
+        [config.files["repo"], dvcignore, proj.plot_templates.templates_dir]
+    )
 
     if scm.ignore_file:
         scm.add([os.path.join(dvc_dir, scm.ignore_file)])
diff --git a/tests/func/test_ignore.py b/tests/func/test_ignore.py
index 67e8f71a5a..9543f4e4c5 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_ignore.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_ignore.py
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ def test_ignore_on_branch(tmp_dir, scm, dvc):
     assert set(dvc.tree.walk_files(path)) == {
         path / "foo",
         path / "bar",
+        path / ".dvcignore",
     }
 
     dvc.tree = scm.get_tree("branch", use_dvcignore=True)
diff --git a/tests/func/test_init.py b/tests/func/test_init.py
index 00fd8c90df..4ea9c9101e 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_init.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_init.py
@@ -101,3 +101,13 @@ def test_subdir_init_no_option(tmp_dir, scm, monkeypatch, caplog):
         "`--subdir` if initializing inside a subdirectory of a parent SCM "
         "repository.".format(os.fspath(tmp_dir / "subdir"))
     ) in caplog.text
+
+
+def test_gen_dvcignore(tmp_dir):
+    DvcRepo.init(no_scm=True)
+    text = (
+        "# Add patterns of files dvc should ignore, which could improve\n"
+        "# the performance. Learn more at\n"
+        "# https://dvc.org/doc/user-guide/dvcignore\n"
+    )
+    assert text == (tmp_dir / ".dvcignore").read_text()
diff --git a/tests/func/test_ls.py b/tests/func/test_ls.py
index 85dd9eb1ba..4c2681d524 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_ls.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_ls.py
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ def test_ls_repo(tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
     match_files(
         files,
         (
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
             (("README.md",), False),
             (("structure.xml.dvc",), False),
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ def test_ls_repo_with_color(tmp_dir, dvc, scm, mocker, monkeypatch, caplog):
 
     assert caplog.records[-1].msg == "\n".join(
         [
+            ".dvcignore",
             ".gitignore",
             "README.md",
             "\x1b[01;34mdata\x1b[0m",
@@ -107,6 +109,7 @@ def test_ls_repo_recursive(tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
     match_files(
         files,
         (
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
             (("README.md",), False),
             (("structure.xml.dvc",), False),
@@ -258,6 +261,7 @@ def test_ls_repo_with_removed_dvc_dir(tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
             (("out.dvc",), False),
             (("dep",), True),
             (("out",), False),
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
         ),
     )
@@ -275,6 +279,7 @@ def test_ls_repo_with_removed_dvc_dir_recursive(tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
             (("out.dvc",), False),
             (("dep",), True),
             (("out", "file"), True),
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
         ),
     )
@@ -306,6 +311,7 @@ def test_ls_remote_repo(erepo_dir):
     match_files(
         files,
         (
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
             (("README.md",), False),
             (("structure.xml.dvc",), False),
@@ -326,6 +332,7 @@ def test_ls_remote_repo_recursive(erepo_dir):
     match_files(
         files,
         (
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
             (("README.md",), False),
             (("structure.xml.dvc",), False),
@@ -393,6 +400,7 @@ def test_ls_remote_repo_with_rev(erepo_dir):
     match_files(
         files,
         (
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
             (("README.md",), False),
             (("model",), False),
@@ -422,6 +430,7 @@ def test_ls_remote_repo_with_rev_recursive(erepo_dir):
             (("model", "people.csv"), True),
             (("model", ".gitignore"), False),
             (("structure.xml",), True),
+            ((".dvcignore",), False),
             ((".gitignore",), False),
         ),
     )