diff --git a/data/modfolder_ignore_existing.7z b/data/modfolder_ignore_existing.7z
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc912d0
Binary files /dev/null and b/data/modfolder_ignore_existing.7z differ
diff --git a/include/btu/modmanager/mod_folder.hpp b/include/btu/modmanager/mod_folder.hpp
index 88c8166..ffd7c2d 100644
--- a/include/btu/modmanager/mod_folder.hpp
+++ b/include/btu/modmanager/mod_folder.hpp
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class ModFolder
     using enum ModFolderIteratorBase::ArchiveTooLargeAction;
     using enum ModFolderIteratorBase::ArchiveTooLargeState;
 
-    explicit ModFolder(Path directory, bsa::Settings bsa_settings);
+    explicit ModFolder(Path directory, bsa::Settings bsa_settings, bool ignore_existing_archives = false);
 
     /// Get the size of the folder, including files in archives.
     /// Utility function, equivalent to iterate() and counting the files.
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ class ModFolder
 private:
     Path dir_;
     bsa::Settings bsa_settings_;
+    bool ignore_existing_archives_;
     common::ThreadPool thread_pool_;
 };
 } // namespace btu::modmanager
diff --git a/src/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp b/src/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp
index bb831ad..3a1b0fa 100644
--- a/src/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp
+++ b/src/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@
 
 namespace btu::modmanager {
 
-ModFolder::ModFolder(Path directory, bsa::Settings bsa_settings)
+ModFolder::ModFolder(Path directory, bsa::Settings bsa_settings, bool ignore_existing_archives)
     : dir_(std::move(directory))
     , bsa_settings_(BTU_MOV(bsa_settings))
+    , ignore_existing_archives_(ignore_existing_archives)
     , thread_pool_(common::make_thread_pool())
 {
 }
@@ -274,6 +275,9 @@ void ModFolder::transform(ModFolderTransformer &transformer) noexcept
         if (transformer.stop_requested())
             return;
 
+        if (is_arch(file_path) && ignore_existing_archives_)
+            continue;
+
         futs.push_back(thread_pool_.submit_task([this, &file_path, &is_arch, &transformer] {
             if (is_arch(file_path)) [[unlikely]]
                 transform_archive_file(file_path, transformer, bsa_settings_, thread_pool_);
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index fa8ae79..a55fb11 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ acquire_test("decompress")
 acquire_test("esp")
 acquire_test("make_transparent_alpha")
 acquire_test("modfolder_transform")
+acquire_test("modfolder_ignore_existing")
 acquire_test("optimize")
 acquire_test("nif_optimize")
 acquire_test("resize")
diff --git a/tests/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp b/tests/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp
index 4048a0f..0218065 100644
--- a/tests/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp
+++ b/tests/modmanager/mod_folder.cpp
@@ -85,6 +85,21 @@ TEST_CASE("ModFolder transform", "[src]")
     CHECK(btu::common::compare_directories(dir / "output", dir / "expected"));
 }
 
+TEST_CASE("ModFolder ignore existing", "[src]")
+{
+    const Path dir = "modfolder_ignore_existing";
+    // operate on copy
+    btu::fs::remove_all(dir / "output");
+    btu::fs::copy(dir / "input", dir / "output");
+
+    auto mf = btu::modmanager::ModFolder(dir / "output", btu::bsa::Settings::get(btu::Game::SSE), true);
+
+    Transformer transformer;
+    mf.transform(transformer);
+
+    CHECK(btu::common::compare_directories(dir / "output", dir / "expected"));
+}
+
 TEST_CASE("ModFolder size", "[src]")
 {
     const Path dir = "modfolder";