diff --git a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/AppConfig.java b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/AppConfig.java
index 900dc9a..680597f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/AppConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/AppConfig.java
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ class AppConfig {
   @Bean
   ScannerConfiguration scannerConfiguration(
       @Value("${scanner.directory}") String scannerDirectory,
-      @Value("${scanner.interval}") int interval) {
-    return new ScannerConfiguration(scannerDirectory, interval);
+      @Value("${scanner.interval}") int interval, @Value("${scanner.ignore}") String[] ignore) {
+    return new ScannerConfiguration(scannerDirectory, interval, ignore);
   }
 
   @Bean
diff --git a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/Application.java b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/Application.java
index 268da61..1696c15 100644
--- a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/Application.java
+++ b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/Application.java
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ public static void main(String[] args) {
       registrationWorkers.forEach(Thread::interrupt);
       processingWorkers.forEach(Thread::interrupt);
       evaluationWorkers.forEach(Thread::interrupt);
+      // if every worker thread has shut down successfully, the application can exit with status code 0
+      Runtime.getRuntime().halt(0);
     }, "Shutdown-thread"));
 
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/evaluation/EvaluationRequest.java b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/evaluation/EvaluationRequest.java
index 51cac39..59a3f80 100644
--- a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/evaluation/EvaluationRequest.java
+++ b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/evaluation/EvaluationRequest.java
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ private void moveBackToOrigin(File taskDir, Provenance provenance, String reason
           Paths.get(provenance.userWorkDirectoryPath).resolve(usersErrorDirectory)
               .resolve(taskDir.getName()));
     } catch (IOException e) {
-      LOG.error("Cannot move task to user intervention: %s".formatted(provenance.originPath), e);
+      LOG.error("Cannot move task to user intervention: %s".formatted(Paths.get(provenance.userWorkDirectoryPath).resolve(usersErrorDirectory)), e);
       moveToSystemIntervention(taskDir, e.getMessage());
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/Scanner.java b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/Scanner.java
index 8ef44cd..fa32692 100644
--- a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/Scanner.java
+++ b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/Scanner.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.Set;
 import life.qbic.data.processing.ConcurrentRegistrationQueue;
 import life.qbic.data.processing.GlobalConfig;
 import life.qbic.data.processing.registration.RegistrationRequest;
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ public class Scanner extends Thread {
   private final HashSet<Path> userProcessDirectories = new HashSet<>();
   private final ConcurrentRegistrationQueue registrationQueue;
   private final HashSet<RegistrationRequest> submittedRequests = new HashSet<>();
+  private final Set<String> ignoredDirectories = new HashSet<>();
 
   public Scanner(ScannerConfiguration scannerConfiguration,
       ConcurrentRegistrationQueue registrationQueue, GlobalConfig globalConfig) {
@@ -53,6 +55,14 @@ public Scanner(ScannerConfiguration scannerConfiguration,
     this.scanInterval = scannerConfiguration.scanInterval();
     this.registrationQueue = Objects.requireNonNull(registrationQueue,
         "registrationQueue must not be null");
+    this.ignoredDirectories.addAll(scannerConfiguration.ignore());
+    if (!this.ignoredDirectories.isEmpty()) {
+      log.info("Ignoring {} directories", ignoredDirectories.size());
+    }
+  }
+
+  private boolean notToIgnore(String filename) {
+    return !ignoredDirectories.contains(filename);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -62,6 +72,7 @@ public void run() {
       try {
         var userFolderIterator = Arrays.stream(
                 Objects.requireNonNull(scannerPath.toFile().listFiles())).filter(File::isDirectory)
+            .filter(file -> notToIgnore(file.getName()))
             .toList().iterator();
 
         while (userFolderIterator.hasNext()) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/ScannerConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/ScannerConfiguration.java
index 052ed75..ac558b1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/ScannerConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/life/qbic/data/processing/scanner/ScannerConfiguration.java
@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 package life.qbic.data.processing.scanner;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Objects;
+
 public class ScannerConfiguration {
 
   private final String scannerDirectory;
   private final int scanInterval;
+  private final String[] ignore;
 
-  public ScannerConfiguration(String scannerDirectory, int interval) {
+  public ScannerConfiguration(String scannerDirectory, int interval, String[] ignore) {
     this.scannerDirectory = scannerDirectory;
     if (interval <= 0) {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException("Interval must be greater than 0");
     }
     this.scanInterval = interval;
+    this.ignore = Arrays.copyOf(Objects.requireNonNull(ignore), ignore.length);
   }
 
   public String scannerDirectory() {
@@ -20,4 +26,8 @@ public String scannerDirectory() {
   public int scanInterval() {
     return scanInterval;
   }
+
+  public Collection<String> ignore () {
+    return Arrays.stream(ignore).toList();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 3900cde..10abf93 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ users.error.directory.name=error
 # Path to the directory that contains all user directories
 # e.g. /home in Linux or /Users in macOS
 scanner.directory=${SCANNER_DIR:/home}
+# Ignored directories are skipped during scanning
+# your can provide a list of comma-separated names if you want to ignore multiple directories
+scanner.ignore=${SCANNER_IGNORE:}
 # The time interval (milliseconds) the scanner thread iterates through the scanner directory
 # Value must be an integer > 0
 scanner.interval=1000