How to Block Specific File Types from Syncing in Google Drive for Desktop

Why Exclude Specific File Types?

Google Drive for Desktop is designed to mirror the folders on your computer exactly as they are. However, if you are a developer, video editor, or power user, certain software automatically generates massive temporary files, cache databases, or compiled binaries inside your working directories (for example, .tmp, .bak, .DS_Store, or node_modules). Syncing these files to the cloud is a complete waste of your internet bandwidth and quickly eats away at your limited Google Workspace storage quota. Instead of manually moving these files out of your synced folders, you can configure Google Drive to actively ignore specific file extensions.

How to Access the Hidden Exclude List

The ability to block specific file extensions is not immediately obvious in the standard Drive interface; it is tucked away in the advanced preferences.

1. Locate the Google Drive icon in your system tray (Windows, bottom right) or menu bar (macOS, top right).
2. Click the icon to open the Drive panel.
3. Click the Settings gear icon in the top right corner of the panel.
4. Select Preferences from the dropdown menu.
5. In the new Preferences window, click the Settings gear icon again (this time in the top right corner of the Preferences window).

Adding File Extensions to the Blocklist

You will now see the advanced settings for your Google Drive account.

1. Scroll down the list until you find a section labeled Ignored files or “Exclude files with these extensions.” (The exact wording varies slightly depending on your version of Drive).
2. Click the Add extension or “Edit” button.
3. A text box will appear. Type the file extension you want to block without the leading period. For example, if you want to block temporary files, type tmp. If you want to block macOS hidden files, type DS_Store.
4. Click Add.
5. Repeat this process for every file type you want to ignore (e.g., bak, log, iso, mp4).
6. Once your list is complete, click the blue Save button at the bottom of the window.

What Happens Next?

Google Drive will immediately restart its syncing engine. From this point forward, if you save a file ending in .tmp inside a monitored folder, it will remain safely on your local hard drive but Drive will completely ignore it, displaying a small red ‘X’ sync icon next to the file to indicate it was intentionally skipped.