diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9a50161..7c83adf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ package.json
 .tscprc
 ```json5
 {
-  "ignored_files": ['**/an_ignored_file.ext'], // files not to copy (defaults to ['node_modules'])
-  "compiled_files": [] // files compiled by TS (these also get ignored) (defaults to ['**/*.ts', '**/*.tsx', '**/*.js', '**/*.jsx'])
+  "ignored_files": ['**/an_ignored_file.ext'], // files not to copy (defaults to `['node_modules']`)
+  "compiled_files": [], // files compiled by TS (these also get ignored) (defaults to `['**/*.ts', '**/*.tsx', '**/*.js', '**/*.jsx']`)
+  "use_ts_exclude": true, // ignore files that are listed in the tsconfig `exclude` array (defaults to `true`)
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/src/actions.ts b/src/actions.ts
index 2df3637..36c5761 100644
--- a/src/actions.ts
+++ b/src/actions.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
 	console_colors,
 	copy_file_or_directory,
 	definitely_posix,
+	get_ignore_list,
 	remove_file_or_directory,
 	sleep,
 } from './helpers';
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ async function collect_projects_files(projects: TsProject[], config: Config): Pr
 			cwd: project.root_dir,
 			dot: true,
 			onlyFiles: true,
-			ignore: config.ignored_files,
+			ignore: get_ignore_list(config, project),
 		});
 
 		return {
@@ -89,7 +90,13 @@ async function watch_files(projects: TsProject[], config: Config): Promise<void>
 	const globed_projects = await collect_projects_files(projects, config);
 
 	const files_to_watch = globed_projects.map(({ root_dir }) => `${root_dir}/.`);
-	const ignore_glob = `{${config.ignored_files.map((rule) => `**/${rule}`).join(',')}}`;
+	const ignore_glob = `{${get_ignore_list(config, projects).map((rule) => {
+		if (!rule.startsWith('**/')) {
+			return `**/${rule}`;
+		}
+
+		return rule;
+	}).join(',')}}`;
 
 	const watcher = chokidar.watch(files_to_watch, {
 		ignored: ignore_glob,
diff --git a/src/helpers.ts b/src/helpers.ts
index 42943bf..2402187 100644
--- a/src/helpers.ts
+++ b/src/helpers.ts
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ const options: CliOptions = program.opts();
  * Returns the complete, resolved configuration object
  */
 async function get_config(): Promise<Config> {
-	const cwd = process.cwd();
+	const cwd = definitely_posix(process.cwd());
 
 	const ts_config = get_ts_config(cwd, options.project);
 
@@ -108,10 +108,11 @@ async function get_config(): Promise<Config> {
 	const default_config: Config = {
 		cwd,
 		cli_options: options,
+		ts_config,
+		use_ts_exclude: true,
 		compiled_files: ['**/*.ts', '**/*.tsx', '**/*.js', '**/*.jsx'],
 		ignored_files: ['node_modules'],
 		rules: [],
-		ts_config,
 	};
 
 	const config = {
@@ -150,6 +151,7 @@ function build_project_path(cwd: string, project_path: string, ts_config: Parsed
 	const referenceName = path.relative(process.cwd(), cwd);
 	const projectName = path.join(currentDirName, referenceName);
 
+	const { exclude } = ts_config.raw;
 	const { rootDir, outDir } = ts_config.options;
 
 	if (!rootDir) {
@@ -166,6 +168,7 @@ function build_project_path(cwd: string, project_path: string, ts_config: Parsed
 		ts_config_path: project_path,
 		root_dir: rootDir,
 		out_dir: outDir,
+		exclude,
 	};
 }
 
@@ -207,6 +210,37 @@ function get_ts_projects_paths(options: Config): TsProject[] {
 	});
 }
 
+/**
+ * Combines the exclude pattern in the tsconfig file and the TSCP `config.ignored_files`
+ * @param config
+ * @param projects
+ */
+function get_ignore_list(config: Config, projects: TsProject | TsProject[]): string[] {
+	const ignore_list: string[] = [];
+
+	if (config.use_ts_exclude) {
+		const safe_projects = !Array.isArray(projects) ? [projects] : projects;
+
+		const ts_exclude_list = safe_projects.map((project) => {
+			return project.exclude.map((rule) => {
+				// Handle if the exclude pattern contains the name of the root directory
+				const rootDirName = project.root_dir.replace(project.base_path + '/', '') + '/';
+				if (rule.startsWith(rootDirName)) {
+					return rule.replace(rootDirName, '');
+				}
+
+				return rule;
+			});
+		}).flat();
+
+		ignore_list.push(...ts_exclude_list)
+	}
+
+	ignore_list.push(...config.ignored_files);
+
+	return ignore_list;
+}
+
 /**
  * Displays a colored log in the stdout
  * @param msg
@@ -414,6 +448,7 @@ export {
 	get_ts_config,
 	get_ts_project_paths,
 	get_ts_projects_paths,
+	get_ignore_list,
 	validate_path,
 	get_file_stats,
 	remove_file_or_directory,
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 0e9105a..a4b2715 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ export type Config = {
 	cwd: string;
 	cli_options: CliOptions,
 	ts_config: ParsedCommandLine,
+	use_ts_exclude: boolean;
 	compiled_files: string[];
 	ignored_files: string[];
 	rules: Rule[];
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ export type TsProject = {
 	ts_config_path: string;
 	root_dir: string;
 	out_dir: string;
+	exclude: string[];
 }
 
 export type TsProjectWithFiles = TsProject & {