diff --git a/assets/settings/default.json b/assets/settings/default.json
index 4a21b708ee..b47f0dc2e7 100644
--- a/assets/settings/default.json
+++ b/assets/settings/default.json
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@
     "include_warnings": true
   },
   // TODO kb docs
-  "scan_exclude_files": [
+  "file_scan_exclusions": [
     "**/.git",
     "**/.svn",
     "**/.hg",
@@ -277,8 +277,7 @@
     "**/.DS_Store",
     "**/Thumbs.db",
     "**/.classpath",
-    "**/.settings",
-    "**/target"
+    "**/.settings"
   ],
   // Git gutter behavior configuration.
   "git": {
diff --git a/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs b/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs
index 511241bc22..cda37be601 100644
--- a/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs
+++ b/crates/project/src/project_settings.rs
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ pub struct ProjectSettings {
     pub lsp: HashMap<Arc<str>, LspSettings>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub git: GitSettings,
-    // TODO kb better names and docs and tests
+    // TODO kb docs and project_search test
     #[serde(default)]
-    pub scan_exclude_files: Option<Vec<String>>,
+    pub file_scan_exclusions: Option<Vec<String>>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, Default, Serialize, Deserialize, JsonSchema)]
diff --git a/crates/project/src/worktree.rs b/crates/project/src/worktree.rs
index 6508a8635c..b05593cd4d 100644
--- a/crates/project/src/worktree.rs
+++ b/crates/project/src/worktree.rs
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ pub struct LocalSnapshot {
     /// All of the git repositories in the worktree, indexed by the project entry
     /// id of their parent directory.
     git_repositories: TreeMap<ProjectEntryId, LocalRepositoryEntry>,
-    scan_exclude_files: Vec<PathMatcher>,
+    file_scan_exclusions: Vec<PathMatcher>,
 }
 
 struct BackgroundScannerState {
@@ -315,14 +315,14 @@ impl Worktree {
         Ok(cx.add_model(move |cx: &mut ModelContext<Worktree>| {
             let settings_subscription = cx.observe_global::<SettingsStore, _>(move |this, cx| {
                 if let Self::Local(this) = this {
-                    let new_scan_exclude_files =
-                        scan_exclude_files(settings::get::<ProjectSettings>(cx));
-                    if new_scan_exclude_files != this.snapshot.scan_exclude_files {
-                        this.snapshot.scan_exclude_files = new_scan_exclude_files;
+                    let new_file_scan_exclusions =
+                        file_scan_exclusions(settings::get::<ProjectSettings>(cx));
+                    if new_file_scan_exclusions != this.snapshot.file_scan_exclusions {
+                        this.snapshot.file_scan_exclusions = new_file_scan_exclusions;
                         log::info!(
                             "Re-scanning directories, new scan exclude files: {:?}",
                             this.snapshot
-                                .scan_exclude_files
+                                .file_scan_exclusions
                                 .iter()
                                 .map(ToString::to_string)
                                 .collect::<Vec<_>>()
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ impl Worktree {
                 .file_name()
                 .map_or(String::new(), |f| f.to_string_lossy().to_string());
             let mut snapshot = LocalSnapshot {
-                scan_exclude_files: scan_exclude_files(settings::get::<ProjectSettings>(cx)),
+                file_scan_exclusions: file_scan_exclusions(settings::get::<ProjectSettings>(cx)),
                 ignores_by_parent_abs_path: Default::default(),
                 git_repositories: Default::default(),
                 snapshot: Snapshot {
@@ -648,15 +648,15 @@ fn start_background_scan_tasks(
     vec![background_scanner, scan_state_updater]
 }
 
-fn scan_exclude_files(project_settings: &ProjectSettings) -> Vec<PathMatcher> {
-    project_settings.scan_exclude_files.as_deref().unwrap_or(&[]).iter()
+fn file_scan_exclusions(project_settings: &ProjectSettings) -> Vec<PathMatcher> {
+    project_settings.file_scan_exclusions.as_deref().unwrap_or(&[]).iter()
     .sorted()
     .filter_map(|pattern| {
         PathMatcher::new(pattern)
             .map(Some)
             .unwrap_or_else(|e| {
                 log::error!(
-                    "Skipping pattern {pattern} in `scan_exclude_files` project settings due to parsing error: {e:#}"
+                    "Skipping pattern {pattern} in `file_scan_exclusions` project settings due to parsing error: {e:#}"
                 );
                 None
             })
@@ -2227,7 +2227,7 @@ impl LocalSnapshot {
     }
 
     fn is_abs_path_excluded(&self, abs_path: &Path) -> bool {
-        self.scan_exclude_files
+        self.file_scan_exclusions
             .iter()
             .any(|exclude_matcher| exclude_matcher.is_match(abs_path))
     }
diff --git a/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs b/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs
index 256bc6477a..f66a71ee7d 100644
--- a/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/project/src/worktree_tests.rs
@@ -888,7 +888,7 @@ async fn test_write_file(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
 }
 
 #[gpui::test]
-async fn test_ignore_exclusions(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
+async fn test_file_scan_exclusions(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
     init_test(cx);
     let dir = temp_tree(json!({
         ".gitignore": "**/target\n/node_modules\n",
@@ -917,7 +917,7 @@ async fn test_ignore_exclusions(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
     cx.update(|cx| {
         cx.update_global::<SettingsStore, _, _>(|store, cx| {
             store.update_user_settings::<ProjectSettings>(cx, |project_settings| {
-                project_settings.scan_exclude_files =
+                project_settings.file_scan_exclusions =
                     Some(vec!["**/foo/**".to_string(), "**/.DS_Store".to_string()]);
             });
         });
@@ -954,7 +954,8 @@ async fn test_ignore_exclusions(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
     cx.update(|cx| {
         cx.update_global::<SettingsStore, _, _>(|store, cx| {
             store.update_user_settings::<ProjectSettings>(cx, |project_settings| {
-                project_settings.scan_exclude_files = Some(vec!["**/node_modules/**".to_string()]);
+                project_settings.file_scan_exclusions =
+                    Some(vec!["**/node_modules/**".to_string()]);
             });
         });
     });