A transfer rule can appear to match the right filename while still omitting that file. In WinSCP, excluding its containing directory prevents the files beneath that directory from being evaluated against the file mask at all.

Start with a disposable folder tree rather than a production export. Create notes.txt at the root, another notes.txt inside an archive folder, and a third inside a current folder. Add one more harmless file beneath archive in a nested subfolder. Give each file recognisably different contents.

Make the directory boundary explicit

WinSCP file masks separate included and excluded patterns with a vertical bar. An empty include side means everything is initially included. A trailing slash identifies a directory mask, and exclusions take precedence over inclusions.

For this rehearsal, use the transfer File mask value | archive/ to exclude directories named archive. This is a directory-name rule, not a promise to affect only one particular top-level path. The documented directory-mask behaviour is recursive.

Transfer the practice tree to a new empty test destination under your control. Keep the original tree unchanged. Avoid adding unrelated size, date or extension conditions until this single exclusion behaves as intended.

Check both the missing and surviving witnesses

The root notes.txt and the one beneath current should remain eligible. The notes.txt inside archive and the deeper file beneath it should be excluded with their containing directory. Open the surviving files to confirm which copy each represents; identical filenames alone cannot establish the selected path.

If a wanted file sits inside archive, changing only a filename pattern is not enough while the parent remains excluded. Reconsider the directory rule or reorganise the explicitly intended working set, then repeat the rehearsal in a fresh destination.

For the real task, list one known included path and one known excluded path before starting. Include a nested example if the data has nested folders. A plausible total file count can conceal both an omission and an accidental inclusion that cancel each other numerically.

Keep the accepted mask with the transfer's purpose. If a later folder rename changes what archive means, revisit the rule. The successful outcome is the intended traversal boundary and verified file set, rather than a wildcard that merely looks similar to the filenames you expected.

Sources: WinSCP documentation.