diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9ab73a5..de7d833 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -137,11 +137,15 @@ How many copies need to be in according folders, file tree will look like this:
 - `best`: best and slowest compression
 - `none`: no compression
 
-### 🔧 `filter_ignored_folders` option:
+### 🔧 `filter_commonly_ignored_folders` option:
 
-- `true` (default): ignores all **.git, node_modules, vendor**, etc folders 
+- `true` (default): ignores all **.git, node_modules, vendor**, etc folders; adds it to **filter** option
 - `false`: does nothing
 
+### 🔧 `filter_ignored` option:
+
+- `false` (default): does nothing
+- `true`: ignores records in .gitignore file; adds it to **filter** option
 
 ## Ⓜ️ Mega Online Cloud storage integration
 
diff --git a/src/backups.js b/src/backups.js
index 6bc3ebc..3226dad 100644
--- a/src/backups.js
+++ b/src/backups.js
@@ -45,13 +45,26 @@ async function handeBackup(backupJson, projectPath, rewriteDate = undefined) {
   // https://www.npmjs.com/package/maximatch
   backup.filter = backupJson.filter || [];
 
-  if (backupJson.filter_ignored_folders !== false) {
+  if (backupJson.filter_commonly_ignored_folders !== false) {
     backup.filter = [
       ...backup.filter,
       ...['**/vendor/**', '**/node_modules/**', '.git/**', '**/__pycache__/**'],
     ];
   }
 
+  if (backupJson.filter_gitignored === true) {
+    try {
+      const gitignoreRules = fs
+        .readFileSync(path.normalize(`${projectPath}/.gitignore`), 'utf8')
+        .split('\n')
+        .map((line) => line.trim())
+        .filter((line) => line !== '' && !line.startsWith('#'));
+      backup.filter = [...backup.filter, ...gitignoreRules];
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.error(`Error reading ${projectPath}/.gitignore: ${err.message}`);
+    }
+  }
+
   const compressionMap = {
     none: zlib.constants.Z_NO_COMPRESSION,
     default: zlib.constants.Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION,