diff --git a/assets/settings/default.json b/assets/settings/default.json
index 08d85dd723cc13ca98b0b239a199b263f738d99a..4a21b708eef99dc0193fc57910b48e505fe2cee8 100644
--- a/assets/settings/default.json
+++ b/assets/settings/default.json
@@ -268,6 +268,18 @@
     // Whether to show warnings or not by default.
     "include_warnings": true
   },
+  // TODO kb docs
+  "scan_exclude_files": [
+    "**/.git",
+    "**/.svn",
+    "**/.hg",
+    "**/CVS",
+    "**/.DS_Store",
+    "**/Thumbs.db",
+    "**/.classpath",
+    "**/.settings",
+    "**/target"
+  ],
   // Git gutter behavior configuration.
   "git": {
     // Control whether the git gutter is shown. May take 2 values:
diff --git a/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs b/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs
index 7cbcc32d4ee9dc25ab0b7bf0abbef122d54ca9f5..511241bc22df8a2fb3c45478a76336aec7d8fc7c 100644
--- a/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs
+++ b/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ pub struct ProjectSettings {
     pub git: GitSettings,
     // TODO kb better names and docs and tests
     #[serde(default)]
-    pub scan_exclude_files: Vec<String>,
+    pub scan_exclude_files: Option<Vec<String>>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, Default, Serialize, Deserialize, JsonSchema)]
diff --git a/crates/project/src/worktree.rs b/crates/project/src/worktree.rs
index 316878030508adf732c3041a364255d360f3b931..41fd647c9ced85410aa1bd7142ead3a2eca55474 100644
--- a/crates/project/src/worktree.rs
+++ b/crates/project/src/worktree.rs
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ fn start_background_scan_tasks(
 }
 
 fn scan_exclude_files(project_settings: &ProjectSettings) -> Vec<PathMatcher> {
-    project_settings.scan_exclude_files.iter()
+    project_settings.scan_exclude_files.as_deref().unwrap_or(&[]).iter()
     .sorted()
     .filter_map(|pattern| {
         PathMatcher::new(pattern)
diff --git a/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs b/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs
index 1fb4aa9a3474740d31f1fab5519b90b502758f4c..79ac25a1476fb221fb3f4faa41d1acb1aca11073 100644
--- a/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs
@@ -910,7 +910,7 @@ async fn test_ignore_inclusions_and_exclusions(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
         cx.update_global::<SettingsStore, _, _>(|store, cx| {
             store.update_user_settings::<ProjectSettings>(cx, |project_settings| {
                 project_settings.scan_exclude_files =
-                    vec!["**/foo/**".to_string(), "**/.DS_Store".to_string()];
+                    Some(vec!["**/foo/**".to_string(), "**/.DS_Store".to_string()]);
             });
         });
     });