diff --git a/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.test.ts b/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.test.ts
index b17df261..cff24895 100644
--- a/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.test.ts
@@ -57,3 +57,33 @@ it("owns settings arrays instead of sharing them with callers and listeners", as
     await settings.setSettings({ maxFileSizeMB: 12 });
     assert.deepEqual(settings.getSettings().ignorePatterns, ["updated"]);
 });
+
+it("file eligibility follows successfully saved settings", async () => {
+    let fail = false;
+    const settings = new Settings(
+        new Logger(),
+        {
+            ignorePatterns: ["private/**"],
+            maxFileSizeMB: 1
+        },
+        async () => {
+            if (fail) throw new Error("save failed");
+        }
+    );
+    assert(settings.isIgnored("private/note.md"));
+    assert(settings.isIgnored(".vault-link-sync/state.json"));
+    assert(!settings.isIgnored("public/note.md"));
+    assert(!settings.isOversized(1024 * 1024));
+    assert(settings.isOversized(1024 * 1024 + 1));
+    fail = true;
+    await assert.rejects(
+        settings.setSettings({ ignorePatterns: [], maxFileSizeMB: 2 }),
+        /save failed/
+    );
+    assert(settings.isIgnored("private/note.md"));
+    assert(settings.isOversized(1024 * 1024 + 1));
+    fail = false;
+    await settings.setSettings({ ignorePatterns: [], maxFileSizeMB: 2 });
+    assert(!settings.isIgnored("private/note.md"));
+    assert(!settings.isOversized(1024 * 1024 + 1));
+});
diff --git a/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.ts b/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.ts
index 9cc3bbe3..1b592d65 100644
--- a/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.ts
+++ b/frontend/sync-client/src/persistence/settings.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import type { Logger } from "../tracing/logger";
+import { globsToRegexes } from "../utils/globs-to-regexes";
+import { isInternalPath } from "../utils/portable-path";
 import { Lock } from "../utils/data-structures/locks";
 import { EventListeners } from "../utils/data-structures/event-listeners";
 
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ export class Settings {
     >();
 
     private settings: SyncSettings;
+    private ignorePatterns: RegExp[];
     private readonly lock: Lock = new Lock();
 
     public constructor(
@@ -55,11 +58,27 @@ export class Settings {
             ...structuredClone(initialState ?? {})
         };
 
+        this.ignorePatterns = globsToRegexes(
+            this.settings.ignorePatterns,
+            logger
+        );
+
         this.logger.debug(
             `Loaded settings: ${JSON.stringify(redactSettings(this.settings), null, 2)}`
         );
     }
 
+    public isIgnored(path: string): boolean {
+        return (
+            isInternalPath(path) ||
+            this.ignorePatterns.some((pattern) => pattern.test(path))
+        );
+    }
+
+    public isOversized(size: number): boolean {
+        return size > this.settings.maxFileSizeMB * 1024 * 1024;
+    }
+
     public getSettings(): SyncSettings {
         return {
             ...this.settings,
@@ -92,6 +111,12 @@ export class Settings {
             await this.saveData(next);
             this.settings = next;
 
+            if (update.ignorePatterns !== undefined)
+                this.ignorePatterns = globsToRegexes(
+                    next.ignorePatterns,
+                    this.logger
+                );
+
             return [this.getSettings(), oldSettings] as const;
         });