diff --git a/.env b/.env.example
similarity index 100%
rename from .env
rename to .env.example
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6a87b45..9bafa52 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 node_modules
 .DS_Store
+.env
 dist
 dist-ssr
 *.local
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 75c9a5e..076cb2c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ git clone https://github.com/vector-im/element-call.git
 cd element-call
 yarn
 yarn link matrix-js-sdk
+cp .env.example .env
 yarn dev
 ```