diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f13cb1e..7913292 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ will extract translations to .pot file
 	--numberedExpressions   boolean overrides babel-plugin-ttag setting -  https://ttag.js.org/docs/plugin-api.html#confignumberedexpressions. Refer to the doc for the details.  
 	--extractLocation   string - 'full' | 'file' | 'never' - https://ttag.js.org/docs/plugin-api.html#configextractlocation. Is used to format location comments in the .po file.
 	--sortByMsgid boolean. Will sort output in alphabetically by msgid. https://ttag.js.org/docs/plugin-api.html#configsortbymsgid
-
+  --exclude  -e   exclude files or directories matching the given glob pattern(s) from extraction
 
 ### `check [lang] <pofile> <src...>`
 will check if all translations are present in .po file
diff --git a/src/commands/extract.ts b/src/commands/extract.ts
index d98dc8b..4cc6260 100644
--- a/src/commands/extract.ts
+++ b/src/commands/extract.ts
@@ -8,18 +8,23 @@ async function extract(
     paths: string[],
     lang: string = "en",
     ttagOverrideOpts?: c3poTypes.TtagOpts,
-    ttagRcOpts?: c3poTypes.TtagRc
+    ttagRcOpts?: c3poTypes.TtagRc,
+    exclude?: string[]
 ) {
     const progress: c3poTypes.Progress = ora(
         `[ttag] extracting translations to ${output} ...`
     );
     progress.start();
+
+    const excludeRegexp = exclude ? new RegExp(exclude.join("|")) : undefined;
+
     const result = await extractAll(
         paths,
         lang,
         progress,
         ttagOverrideOpts,
-        ttagRcOpts
+        ttagRcOpts,
+        excludeRegexp
     );
     fs.writeFileSync(output, result);
     progress.succeed(`[ttag] translations extracted to ${output}`);
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index b86f01b..5f8631f 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,11 @@ yargs
                 default: "en",
                 description: "sets default lang (ISO format)"
             },
+            exclude: {
+                alias: "e",
+                type: "array",
+                description: "exclude files or directories from extraction"
+            },
             ...getTtagOptsForYargs()
         },
         argv => {
@@ -92,7 +97,8 @@ yargs
                 argv.src,
                 argv.lang,
                 parseTtagPluginOpts(argv),
-                parseTtagRcOpts()
+                parseTtagRcOpts(),
+                argv.exclude // pass the exclude option value to the extract function
             );
         }
     )
diff --git a/src/lib/extract.ts b/src/lib/extract.ts
index 3c72676..2881a3d 100644
--- a/src/lib/extract.ts
+++ b/src/lib/extract.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ export async function extractAll(
     lang: string,
     progress: ttagTypes.Progress,
     overrideOpts?: ttagTypes.TtagOpts,
-    rcOpts?: ttagTypes.TtagRc
+    rcOpts?: ttagTypes.TtagRc,
+    excludeRegexp?: RegExp
 ): Promise<string> {
     const tmpFile = tmp.fileSync();
     let ttagOpts: ttagTypes.TtagOpts = {
@@ -34,6 +35,11 @@ export async function extractAll(
     }
     const babelOptions = makeBabelConf(ttagOpts);
     const transformFn: TransformFn = filepath => {
+        // exclude paths
+        if (excludeRegexp && excludeRegexp.test(filepath)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         try {
             switch (extname(filepath)) {
                 case ".vue": {
@@ -116,9 +122,9 @@ export async function extractAll(
             }
             progress.fail("Failed to extract translations");
             process.exit(1);
-            return;
         }
     };
+
     await pathsWalk(
         getWalkingPaths(paths, rcOpts),
         progress,
diff --git a/tests/commands/__snapshots__/test_extract.ts.snap b/tests/commands/__snapshots__/test_extract.ts.snap
index 02c1cba..f2c28e8 100644
--- a/tests/commands/__snapshots__/test_extract.ts.snap
+++ b/tests/commands/__snapshots__/test_extract.ts.snap
@@ -179,6 +179,49 @@ msgstr \\"\\"
 "
 `;
 
+exports[`extract with e alias 1`] = `
+"msgid \\"\\"
+msgstr \\"\\"
+\\"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\\\\n\\"
+\\"Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n!=1);\\\\n\\"
+
+#: tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test1.js:4
+#, javascript-format
+msgid \\"test translation \${ name }\\"
+msgstr \\"\\"
+"
+`;
+
+exports[`extract with exclude by regexp 1`] = `
+"msgid \\"\\"
+msgstr \\"\\"
+\\"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\\\\n\\"
+\\"Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n!=1);\\\\n\\"
+
+#: tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test1.js:4
+#, javascript-format
+msgid \\"test translation \${ name }\\"
+msgstr \\"\\"
+"
+`;
+
+exports[`extract with excludePaths 1`] = `
+"msgid \\"\\"
+msgstr \\"\\"
+\\"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\\\\n\\"
+\\"Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n!=1);\\\\n\\"
+
+#: tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test1.js:4
+#, javascript-format
+msgid \\"test translation \${ name }\\"
+msgstr \\"\\"
+
+#: tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/excluded/test2.js:4
+msgid \\"test translation 2 \${ name }\\"
+msgstr \\"\\"
+"
+`;
+
 exports[`should extract in the alphabetical order (sortByMsgid) 1`] = `
 "msgid \\"\\"
 msgstr \\"\\"
diff --git a/tests/commands/test_extract.ts b/tests/commands/test_extract.ts
index 2376050..c3edeb3 100644
--- a/tests/commands/test_extract.ts
+++ b/tests/commands/test_extract.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ const sveltePath = path.resolve(
     __dirname,
     "../fixtures/testSvelteParse.svelte"
 );
+const extractExcludePath = path.resolve(
+    __dirname,
+    "../fixtures/extractExcludeTest"
+);
 const globalFn = path.resolve(__dirname, "../fixtures/globalFunc.js");
 const tsPath = path.resolve(__dirname, "../fixtures/tSParse.ts");
 const tsChaning = path.resolve(__dirname, "../fixtures/tsOptionalChaning.ts");
@@ -132,3 +136,27 @@ test("extract from ts with const enum", () => {
     const result = fs.readFileSync(potPath).toString();
     expect(result).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
+
+test("extract with excludePaths", () => {
+    execSync(
+        `ts-node src/index.ts extract --exclude="nested" -o ${potPath} ${extractExcludePath}`
+    );
+    const result = fs.readFileSync(potPath).toString();
+    expect(result).toMatchSnapshot();
+});
+
+test("extract with exclude by regexp", () => {
+    execSync(
+        `ts-node src/index.ts extract --exclude="nested|excluded" -o ${potPath} ${extractExcludePath}`
+    );
+    const result = fs.readFileSync(potPath).toString();
+    expect(result).toMatchSnapshot();
+});
+
+test("extract with e alias", () => {
+    execSync(
+        `ts-node src/index.ts extract -e "nested" "excluded" -o ${potPath} ${extractExcludePath}`
+    );
+    const result = fs.readFileSync(potPath).toString();
+    expect(result).toMatchSnapshot();
+});
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/excluded/nested/test2.js b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/excluded/nested/test2.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d2e291
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/excluded/nested/test2.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { t, c } from 'ttag';
+
+const name = 'Mike';
+t`test translation 2 ${name}`;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/excluded/test2.js b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/excluded/test2.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d2e291
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/excluded/test2.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { t, c } from 'ttag';
+
+const name = 'Mike';
+t`test translation 2 ${name}`;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/nested/test2.js b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/nested/test2.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d2e291
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/nested/test2.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { t, c } from 'ttag';
+
+const name = 'Mike';
+t`test translation 2 ${name}`;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test.xml b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f141244
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<test>
+<shouldnottransform/>
+</test>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test1.js b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test1.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..327b6e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/extractExcludeTest/test1.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { t } from 'ttag';
+
+const name = 'Mike';
+t`test translation ${name}`;