How to Exclude the Home Folder Properly From Timeshift Snapshots to Save Space

Timeshift snapshots are supposed to be a lean safety net for your operating system. Yet many users open their snapshot drive and find it completely full after only a few snapshots. The usual cause is simple: the home folder, full of downloads, videos, virtual machines, and game files, is being copied into every snapshot. Excluding home properly fixes the space problem — but doing it carelessly can leave your personal settings unprotected or, worse, restore old files over new ones.

Quick Answer

To exclude the home folder from Timeshift, open Timeshift Settings, go to the Users tab, and set each user to Exclude, or use the Filters tab to add the pattern for your home directory as an excluded path. RSYNC mode respects these exclusions directly. Keep a separate backup tool for personal files, because excluded home data cannot be recovered from a Timeshift restore.

Why the Home Folder Causes So Much Trouble

Your system files change slowly. Your home folder does not. A single downloaded film, a Steam library, a folder of raw photos, or a virtual machine image can add tens of gigabytes. When Timeshift includes home, every snapshot grows, the snapshot drive fills, scheduled snapshots start failing, and eventually you have no working restore points at all — usually discovered on the exact day you need one.

There is a second, quieter risk. If home is included and you restore an old snapshot, Timeshift can roll your documents and downloads back to that older state. A system rollback should fix your operating system, not delete last week’s work.

What Timeshift Excludes by Default — and What It Does Not

By default, Timeshift is designed around system protection. In RSYNC mode it excludes home folders by default in most default setups, but user changes, distribution defaults, and the include options on the Users tab can change that behaviour. In BTRFS mode the picture is different: the @home subvolume is separate, and including or excluding it is a distinct choice.

Do not assume your current setting. Check it. It takes one minute, and it is the difference between lean snapshots and a full disk. If you are still deciding between modes, our guide to choosing between Timeshift RSYNC and BTRFS mode covers the trade-offs in full.

How to Exclude Home in RSYNC Mode

Method 1: Use the Users Tab

1. Open Timeshift and enter your administrator password.
2. Click Settings in the toolbar.
3. Open the Users tab. You will see each user account with inclusion options.
4. For each user, select the Exclude option so the home folder is left out of snapshots entirely.
5. Click OK to save, then create a fresh snapshot and watch its reported size. It should be dramatically smaller than before.

The Users tab also offers options that include only hidden files and settings — the dotfiles such as .config — while excluding the bulk of home. That middle option is worth considering, explained below.

Method 2: Use the Filters Tab for Precise Control

1. Open Timeshift Settings and go to the Filters tab.
2. Click Add and enter the path pattern for your home folder, for example /home/yourusername/**, using your real username.
3. Make sure the pattern is marked as excluded rather than included. In the filters list, the icon beside the entry shows its state.
4. Add other heavy folders the same way if needed, such as a separate data mount or a games library stored outside home.
5. Save, then run a manual snapshot and confirm its size looks right.

Filters follow rsync-style patterns, and the project documentation describes how include and exclude rules interact, so review the official Timeshift documentation on GitHub if you build complex filter sets.

How Exclusion Works in BTRFS Mode

In BTRFS mode there is no copying, so there is no filters list in the same sense. Your system lives in the @ subvolume and home lives in @home. Timeshift snapshots @ for system restore. Including @home is optional and is controlled in the same Users settings area.

Leave @home excluded unless you have a clear reason to include it. Because Btrfs snapshots share unchanged data, including home does not waste space the way RSYNC inclusion does, but a restore that includes home can still roll back personal files, which is the bigger danger.

You can check your subvolumes at any time with:

sudo btrfs subvolume list /

The Middle Option: Protect Settings, Exclude Bulk Data

Many users like one part of home being protected: the hidden configuration folders that hold desktop settings, application preferences, and browser profiles. Timeshift’s Users tab offers an option to include hidden files only. With it, snapshots stay small, your desktop and app settings can be restored, but downloads, documents, and media stay out.

This is a good compromise for a personal desktop. For a server or a work machine where settings live in version control or configuration management, full exclusion is cleaner.

Verify the Exclusion Actually Worked

1. Create a new snapshot manually after changing the settings.
2. Select the snapshot and use the Browse option to open its folder.
3. Check that the home section is empty or contains only the hidden settings you chose to include.
4. Compare the snapshot size in the main window with an older snapshot. The drop should be obvious.
5. Optionally, check disk usage from the terminal with du -sh /timeshift/snapshots or the path shown in your Timeshift location settings.

Delete the old, bloated snapshots from inside Timeshift after verifying the new one, so the wasted space is actually reclaimed.

Back Up Home Separately — This Step Is Not Optional

Once home is excluded, Timeshift cannot bring back a deleted document or a corrupted photo library. That job belongs to a real backup tool. Popular simple choices on Linux include Deja Dup, Back In Time, and a plain scheduled rsync job to an external drive, for example:

rsync -a --delete /home/yourusername/ /media/backup/home-backup/

Whatever you choose, send personal backups to a different drive from your snapshots, and test restoring one file before you trust the setup.

Common Mistakes and Useful Tips

• Excluding home, then expecting Timeshift to recover documents: It cannot. Excluded means excluded. Pair Timeshift with a separate home backup.
• Using the wrong username in a filter pattern: A pattern with a typo matches nothing and fails silently. Copy your path from echo $HOME output.
• Forgetting other user accounts: Exclude home for every user listed, not just your own account.
• Leaving old bloated snapshots in place: Changing settings only affects new snapshots. Delete the oversized old ones inside Timeshift.
• Excluding too much on the Filters tab: Broad patterns can accidentally exclude system paths. Keep filters focused on home and clearly personal folders.
• Including home on a gaming PC: Game libraries are huge and easy to re-download. They never belong in system snapshots.

Conclusion

Excluding the home folder keeps Timeshift snapshots small, fast, and focused on what Timeshift does best: recovering your operating system. Use the Users tab for a simple full exclusion, the Filters tab when you need precise control, and remember that BTRFS mode handles home as a separate subvolume choice. Then cover the gap properly with a dedicated backup for your personal files on a different drive. Small snapshots that actually exist will always beat huge snapshots that stopped running months ago.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Timeshift include the home folder by default?

Timeshift is designed to protect the system, and home is excluded by default in typical RSYNC setups. However, settings can be changed, so open the Users tab and confirm the current state on your machine.

What happens to my files if I restore a snapshot with home excluded?

Your personal files are left untouched. Only system files and settings are rolled back, which is exactly the safe behaviour most users want from a system restore.

Can I include only my desktop and app settings?

Yes. The Users tab offers an option to include hidden files and folders only. That protects configuration files like those in .config while keeping documents and media out of snapshots.

Why is my snapshot still large after excluding home?

Other folders may be large, such as /var with flatpak data, Docker images, or system logs. Browse the snapshot to find the heavy folder, then decide whether a filter is appropriate.

Should BTRFS users include the @home subvolume?

Usually no. Keep system and personal data separate. Snapshot @ with Timeshift and back up @home with a dedicated backup tool instead.