---
id: backups.what-does-data-backup-skip
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/backups/what-does-data-backup-skip
category: "Backups & restore points"
subcategory: "Data Backup basics"
question: "Which files does Data Backup skip by default?"
alt_questions:
  - "Does Data Backup ignore some files?"
  - "What's excluded from backups?"
  - "Why isn't my cache folder in the backup?"
  - "backup exclusions Storage Studio"
  - "Does it back up node_modules?"
  - "Are temporary files backed up?"
  - "default excludes data backup"
short_answer: "New backup sets skip Trash folders, Caches folders, .tmp files, .DS_Store files, node_modules folders and Git's internal object store — things that are rebuilt automatically and not worth versioning."
tags: ["exclusions", "caches", "developer"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/backups/does-data-backup-include-git-repositories", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/backups/how-much-space-do-backups-use"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# Which files does Data Backup skip by default?

Every new backup set skips a few things that are almost never worth keeping versions of: anything in a **Trash** folder, **Caches** folders, files ending in **.tmp**, Finder's **.DS_Store** files, **node_modules** folders, and the internal object store inside Git repositories.

These are rebuilt automatically by macOS, apps or developer tools, so versioning them would only make backups bigger and slower without protecting anything you'd want back.

If you're a developer, note the Git point: your working files are backed up, but the repository's internal history store isn't. Keep your code pushed to its remote as well — see [Git repositories and Data Backup](https://storagestudio.us/faq/backups/does-data-backup-include-git-repositories).