Excluding a directory from a site clone in ULTRA Cloud

Ryan D 26 Aug, 2026 ULTRA Cloud Panel

When you clone a site, ULTRA Cloud copies everything across by default. Sometimes, though, there are folders you’d rather leave exactly where they are. Excluding a directory lets you skip those folders so they aren’t copied over — perfect for large, environment-specific, or historical files that don’t need to travel with every clone.

Folders people often choose to exclude include:

• User uploads and media
• Backup archives
• Application logs
• Generated files
• Large import or export directories

How exclusions work

Open the Clone site tool and expand Excluded directories. ULTRA Cloud will load a list of folders from the current site, ready for you to choose from.

Tick the folders you’d like to leave out. If a folder isn’t listed, you can type its relative path instead. When the clone runs, ULTRA Cloud will:

• Skip those folders on the source site, so they aren’t copied.
• Leave any matching folders on the destination site untouched.
• Remember your selection for future clones between those two sites.

💡 ULTRA Cloud combines the exclusions saved on both sites. If a folder is protected by either the source or the destination, it stays excluded — no matter which direction you clone in.

Exclusions belonging to the destination site appear with a padlock. These can’t be removed while you’re cloning from the current site (more on clearing them further down).

When should I use exclusions?

Exclusions are most helpful when a folder:

• Holds a lot of data that already exists on the destination.
• Is managed separately from the rest of the site.
• Contains logs, backups, caches, or other files that should stay specific to each environment.
• Would make a routine staging or production clone unnecessarily slow or storage-heavy.

👉 A staging site rarely needs a fresh copy of your production uploads. Excluding that folder speeds up the clone, saves space, and protects any uploads staging already has.

Good to know before you exclude

Excluded folders aren’t synchronised, so anything added, changed, or removed inside them will stay different between the two sites. That’s usually exactly what you want — just keep a few things in mind:

• A brand-new or empty destination won’t receive the excluded files.
• The cloned database may still reference files inside an excluded folder.
• Media or downloads can appear missing if the destination doesn’t already have the files.
• Excluding a parent folder also excludes everything inside it.
• A saved exclusion keeps applying to future clones until you clear it.

⚠️ Exclusions aren’t a backup and don’t provide access control or extra security. Only exclude a folder when the destination already has suitable files there, or when the missing files won’t affect the cloned site.

Clearing exclusions

To remove the current site’s selections from the clone form, choose Clear this site’s exclusions. The change is saved when you complete the clone.

Want to clear your saved exclusions without running a clone? Select Remember this for next time? and the change will be stored on its own.

💡 Padlocked exclusions belong to the destination site. To remove one, open that site in ULTRA Cloud and clear its saved exclusions there.