diff --git a/.vscode/numbered-bookmarks.json b/.vscode/numbered-bookmarks.json
index e6b9404..b575bcb 100644
--- a/.vscode/numbered-bookmarks.json
+++ b/.vscode/numbered-bookmarks.json
@@ -4,15 +4,15 @@
 			"fsPath": "$ROOTPATH$/borghelper.sh",
 			"bookmarks": [
 				-1,
-				253,
-				151,
+				261,
+				159,
 				-1,
 				-1,
 				-1,
 				-1,
 				-1,
 				-1,
-				84
+				92
 			]
 		}
 	]
diff --git a/borghelper.sh b/borghelper.sh
index acaaac3..7b8b856 100755
--- a/borghelper.sh
+++ b/borghelper.sh
@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
             archiveName="$2"
             shift
             ;;
+        --exclude)
+            # exclude files from restore
+            if [ -z "$2" ]; then
+                consoleError 1 "Please provide a list of exclusions in the proper borg format."
+            fi
+            exclusions="$2"
+            shift
+            ;;
         -f|--file)
             # specific file to restore
             if [ -z "$2" ]; then
@@ -173,8 +181,8 @@ if [ "$fileName" ] && [ -z "$archiveName" ]; then
 fi
 
 # clean-up leading spaces in option strings
-commonOptions=${commonOptions##[[:space:]]}
-restoreOptions=${restoreOptions##[[:space:]]}
+if [ "$commonOptions" ]; then commonOptions=${commonOptions##[[:space:]]}; fi
+if [ "$restoreOptions" ]; then restoreOptions=${restoreOptions##[[:space:]]}; fi
 
 
 ### read borg information file
@@ -256,11 +264,11 @@ elif [ "$operation" = 'restore' ]; then
     if [ -z "$fileName" ]; then
         # restore entire archive
         cd "$restorePath" || consoleError 4 'Could not change to restore directory.'
-        borg --show-rc "$commonOptions" extract "$restoreOptions" ::"${archiveName}"
+        borg --show-rc ${commonOptions} extract ${restoreOptions} ::"${archiveName}"
     elif [ "$fileName" ]; then
         # restore single file
         cd "$restorePath" || consoleError 4 'Could not change to restore directory.'
-        borg --show-rc "$commonOptions" extract "$restoreOptions" ::"${archiveName}" "${fileName}"
+        borg --show-rc ${commonOptions} extract ${restoreOptions} ::"${archiveName}" "${fileName}"
     fi
 fi