diff --git a/Documentation/Makefile b/Documentation/Makefile
index 2021568cd5a..8efed2e23e1 100644
--- a/Documentation/Makefile
+++ b/Documentation/Makefile
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@ cmds_txt = cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt \
 	cmds-synchingrepositories.txt \
 	cmds-synchelpers.txt \
 	cmds-guide.txt \
+	cmds-userformats.txt \
 	cmds-purehelpers.txt \
 	cmds-foreignscminterface.txt
 
diff --git a/Documentation/git-help.txt b/Documentation/git-help.txt
index 96d5f598b4b..d47feca0d29 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-help.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-help.txt
@@ -12,11 +12,12 @@ SYNOPSIS
 	   [[-i|--info] [-m|--man] [-w|--web]] [COMMAND|GUIDE]
 'git help' [-g|--guides]
 'git help' [-c|--config]
+'git help' [--user-formats]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
 
-With no options and no COMMAND or GUIDE given, the synopsis of the 'git'
+With no options and no COMMAND or DOC given, the synopsis of the 'git'
 command and a list of the most commonly used Git commands are printed
 on the standard output.
 
@@ -26,8 +27,8 @@ printed on the standard output.
 If the option `--guides` or `-g` is given, a list of the
 Git concept guides is also printed on the standard output.
 
-If a command, or a guide, is given, a manual page for that command or
-guide is brought up. The 'man' program is used by default for this
+If a command or other documentation is given, the relevant manual page
+will be brought up. The 'man' program is used by default for this
 purpose, but this can be overridden by other options or configuration
 variables.
 
@@ -62,6 +63,10 @@ OPTIONS
 --guides::
 	Prints a list of the Git concept guides on the standard output.
 
+--user-formats::
+	Prints a list of the Git user-facing format documentation on
+	the standard output.
+
 -i::
 --info::
 	Display manual page for the command in the 'info' format. The
diff --git a/Documentation/git.txt b/Documentation/git.txt
index d63c65e67d8..823977595c5 100644
--- a/Documentation/git.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git.txt
@@ -337,6 +337,13 @@ The following documentation pages are guides about Git concepts.
 
 include::cmds-guide.txt[]
 
+User-facing file formats
+------------------------
+
+This documentation discusses file formats that users are expected to
+edit. These can also be listed with 'git help --user-formats'.
+
+include::cmds-userformats.txt[]
 
 Configuration Mechanism
 -----------------------
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 060a8c46475..3956ed4b291 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3312,6 +3312,7 @@ check-docs::
 		sed -e '1,/^### command list/d' \
 		    -e '/^#/d' \
 		    -e '/guide$$/d' \
+		    -e '/formats$$/d' \
 		    -e 's/[ 	].*//' \
 		    -e 's/^/listed /' command-list.txt; \
 		$(MAKE) -C Documentation print-man1 | \
diff --git a/builtin/help.c b/builtin/help.c
index 75cd2fb407f..5e842ea5a26 100644
--- a/builtin/help.c
+++ b/builtin/help.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ static enum help_action {
 	HELP_ACTION_ALL = 1,
 	HELP_ACTION_GUIDES,
 	HELP_ACTION_CONFIG,
+	HELP_ACTION_USER_FORMATS,
 	HELP_ACTION_CONFIG_FOR_COMPLETION,
 	HELP_ACTION_CONFIG_SECTIONS_FOR_COMPLETION,
 } cmd_mode;
@@ -64,6 +65,8 @@ static struct option builtin_help_options[] = {
 
 	OPT_CMDMODE('g', "guides", &cmd_mode, N_("print list of useful guides"),
 		    HELP_ACTION_GUIDES),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "user-formats", &cmd_mode, N_("print list of user-facing file formats"),
+		    HELP_ACTION_USER_FORMATS),
 	OPT_CMDMODE('c', "config", &cmd_mode, N_("print all configuration variable names"),
 		    HELP_ACTION_CONFIG),
 	OPT_CMDMODE_F(0, "config-for-completion", &cmd_mode, "",
@@ -79,6 +82,7 @@ static const char * const builtin_help_usage[] = {
 	   "         [[-i|--info] [-m|--man] [-w|--web]] [<command>]"),
 	N_("git help [-g|--guides]"),
 	N_("git help [-c|--config]"),
+	N_("git help [--user-formats]"),
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -613,6 +617,10 @@ int cmd_help(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		no_extra_argc(argc);
 		list_config_help(SHOW_CONFIG_VARS);
 		return 0;
+	case HELP_ACTION_USER_FORMATS:
+		no_extra_argc(argc);
+		list_user_formats_help();
+		return 0;
 	case HELP_ACTION_CONFIG_SECTIONS_FOR_COMPLETION:
 		no_extra_argc(argc);
 		list_config_help(SHOW_CONFIG_SECTIONS);
diff --git a/command-list.txt b/command-list.txt
index a289f09ed6f..5732ea437a8 100644
--- a/command-list.txt
+++ b/command-list.txt
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@
 # specified here, which can only have "guide" attribute and nothing
 # else.
 #
+# User-facing file formats such as documentation for the .gitmodules,
+# .mailmap etc. files lives in man section 5. These entries can only
+# have the "userformats" attribute and nothing else.
+#
 ### command list (do not change this line, also do not change alignment)
 # command name                          category [category] [category]
 git-add                                 mainporcelain           worktree
@@ -193,7 +197,7 @@ gitweb                                  ancillaryinterrogators
 git-whatchanged                         ancillaryinterrogators          complete
 git-worktree                            mainporcelain
 git-write-tree                          plumbingmanipulators
-gitattributes                           guide
+gitattributes                           userformats
 gitcli                                  guide
 gitcore-tutorial                        guide
 gitcredentials                          guide
@@ -202,13 +206,13 @@ gitdiffcore                             guide
 giteveryday                             guide
 gitfaq                                  guide
 gitglossary                             guide
-githooks                                guide
-gitignore                               guide
-gitmailmap                              guide
-gitmodules                              guide
+githooks                                userformats
+gitignore                               userformats
+gitmailmap                              userformats
+gitmodules                              userformats
 gitnamespaces                           guide
 gitremote-helpers                       guide
-gitrepository-layout                    guide
+gitrepository-layout                    userformats
 gitrevisions                            guide
 gitsubmodules                           guide
 gittutorial-2                           guide
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 973e47cdc30..a7b5c909056 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ static struct category_description main_categories[] = {
 	{ CAT_plumbinginterrogators, N_("Low-level Commands / Interrogators") },
 	{ CAT_synchingrepositories, N_("Low-level Commands / Syncing Repositories") },
 	{ CAT_purehelpers, N_("Low-level Commands / Internal Helpers") },
+	{ CAT_userformats, N_("User-facing file formats") },
 	{ 0, NULL }
 };
 
@@ -422,6 +423,16 @@ void list_guides_help(void)
 	putchar('\n');
 }
 
+void list_user_formats_help(void)
+{
+	struct category_description catdesc[] = {
+		{ CAT_userformats, N_("The user-facing file formats are:") },
+		{ 0, NULL }
+	};
+	print_cmd_by_category(catdesc, NULL);
+	putchar('\n');
+}
+
 static int get_alias(const char *var, const char *value, void *data)
 {
 	struct string_list *list = data;
diff --git a/help.h b/help.h
index 9d383f1a0b2..d01908078dc 100644
--- a/help.h
+++ b/help.h
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ static inline void mput_char(char c, unsigned int num)
 void list_common_cmds_help(void);
 void list_all_cmds_help(void);
 void list_guides_help(void);
+void list_user_formats_help(void);
 
 void list_all_main_cmds(struct string_list *list);
 void list_all_other_cmds(struct string_list *list);
diff --git a/t/t0012-help.sh b/t/t0012-help.sh
index 91b68c74a15..6a20a7303f8 100755
--- a/t/t0012-help.sh
+++ b/t/t0012-help.sh
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ test_expect_success 'invalid usage' '
 	test_expect_code 129 git help -g add &&
 	test_expect_code 129 git help -a -g &&
 
+	test_expect_code 129 git help --user-formats add &&
+
 	test_expect_code 129 git help -g -c &&
 	test_expect_code 129 git help --config-for-completion add &&
 	test_expect_code 129 git help --config-sections-for-completion add
@@ -78,9 +80,15 @@ test_expect_success 'git help' '
 	test_i18ngrep "^   commit " help.output &&
 	test_i18ngrep "^   fetch  " help.output
 '
+
+test_expect_success 'git help -a' '
+	git help -a >help.output &&
+	grep "^Main Porcelain Commands" help.output &&
+	grep "^User-facing file formats" help.output
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'git help -g' '
 	git help -g >help.output &&
-	test_i18ngrep "^   attributes " help.output &&
 	test_i18ngrep "^   everyday   " help.output &&
 	test_i18ngrep "^   tutorial   " help.output
 '
@@ -101,6 +109,12 @@ test_expect_success 'git help succeeds without git.html' '
 	test_cmp expect test-browser.log
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'git help --formats' '
+	git help --user-formats >help.output &&
+	grep "^   gitattributes   " help.output &&
+	grep "^   gitmailmap   " help.output
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'git help -c' '
 	git help -c >help.output &&
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
