Filters and exclusions
Eight ready-made presets, seven kinds of rule, a scope for each, and a tester that shows what the rules catch before you save.
On this page
Filters decide which files inside your sources are left out, or, with an Include only rule, the only ones taken. They belong to the job, on top of the global rules in Settings ▸ Exclusions.
Open the editor from:
- the wizard's What step: Filters & exclusions;
- a job's own page: ⋯ ▸ Filters & exclusions…;
- a run report: Add a rule for these (see below).
Presets#
Eight switches. Each shows the patterns it covers under its name.
| Preset | Leaves out |
|---|---|
| Developer junk | node_modules, __pycache__, target, bin, obj, vendor, dist, build, .next |
| Version control internals | .git/objects, .git/lfs, .svn, .hg, .bzr |
| Temporary files | *.tmp, ~$*, caches |
| IDE & tool caches | .idea, .vscode, .vs |
| Log files | *.log, logs/ |
| Media caches | Premiere, Peak Files, proxies |
| Game installs | Steam, Epic, GOG, Battle.net |
| System files | Thumbs.db, pagefile.sys, $RECYCLE.BIN |
Temporary files is on in every new job. The templates turn on more: Documents & Desktop adds System files; Whole profile adds System files and Media caches; Developer adds Developer junk, Version control internals and IDE & tool caches.
Add a rule#
- Under New rule, choose Match by.
- Choose the Action: Exclude or Include only.
- Choose Applies to: Whole job, or Under one of the job's folders.
- Type the pattern. The editor shows the exact rule it will write.
- Click Add rule.
| Match by | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| File name | *.tmp; Thumbs.db; node_modules | * and ? are wildcards; ; separates several. Matches folder names too. |
| Extension | iso, vhdx, tmp | no dots needed, comma separated |
| Full path | **/node_modules/** | matches the whole path; ** crosses folders, * stays inside one |
| Regex | (?i)\\cache\\ | Go RE2 syntax against the full path; paste a sample path to test it |
| Size | more than 2 GB | more than, less than, at least, at most |
| Date modified | older than 365 days | older than, newer than, before, after |
| Attribute | hidden, system | hidden, system, read-only, offline / cloud-only placeholder |
A scope covers that folder and everything under it. Scopes are offered for folders you browsed or typed; a rule on a smart item such as Documents applies to the whole job.
How rules apply#
- An exclude always beats an include.
- Order does not matter: any exclude that matches wins.
- Every rule applies to subfolders, and name masks ignore case.
Each rule in the list has an on/off switch. A rule switched off stays with the job but is not applied, so you can try without it.
Test the rules#
Under Test these rules, pick a folder and click Run test. A scan-only pass shows how many files would be backed up and excluded, the estimated size, the scan time, a sample of what was left out with the rule that caught each, and the biggest files kept. Nothing is written.
Import and export#
Export rules… saves the job's rules as a JSON file. Import rules… reads one into this job; rules it already has are skipped.
From a run report#
A report that lists skipped files or errors has Add a rule for these. It opens the job in the wizard, on the What step, with the filter editor showing an exclude rule for each listed file. Check them, then Save changes. It is the quickest way to stop a noisy folder appearing in every report.