diff --git a/src/main/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/model/io/services/ImageMetaDataLoadingService.java b/src/main/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/model/io/services/ImageMetaDataLoadingService.java
index 5c37b32..b35ff12 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/model/io/services/ImageMetaDataLoadingService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/model/io/services/ImageMetaDataLoadingService.java
@@ -27,12 +27,14 @@
 import javafx.beans.property.SimpleBooleanProperty;
 import javafx.beans.property.SimpleObjectProperty;
 import javafx.concurrent.Task;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 
 public class ImageMetaDataLoadingService extends IoService<ImageMetaDataLoadingResult> {
+    private static final String[] ignoredExtensions = {".txt", ".json", ".xml", ".data"};
     private final ObjectProperty<File> source = new SimpleObjectProperty<>(this, "source");
     private final ObjectProperty<List<File>> imageFiles = new SimpleObjectProperty<>(this, "imageFiles");
     private final BooleanProperty reload = new SimpleBooleanProperty(this, "reload");
@@ -68,11 +70,16 @@ protected ImageMetaDataLoadingResult call() throws Exception {
                     final List<IOErrorInfoEntry> errorInfoEntries =
                             Collections.synchronizedList(new ArrayList<>());
 
-                    int totalNrOfFiles = imageFiles.get().size();
+                    final List<File> filteredFiles = imageFiles.get().stream()
+                            .filter(file -> !StringUtils.endsWithAny(file.getName().toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH), ignoredExtensions))
+                            .toList();
+
+                    int totalNrOfFiles = filteredFiles.size();
                     final AtomicInteger nrProcessedFiles = new AtomicInteger(0);
 
                     fileNameToMetaDataMap
-                            .putAll(imageFiles.get().parallelStream().collect(HashMap::new, (map, item) -> {
+                            .putAll(filteredFiles.parallelStream()
+                                    .collect(HashMap::new, (map, item) -> {
                                 updateProgress(1.0 * nrProcessedFiles.incrementAndGet() / totalNrOfFiles, 1.0);
                                 try {
                                     map.put(item.getName(), ImageMetaData.fromFile(item));
@@ -82,7 +89,7 @@ protected ImageMetaDataLoadingResult call() throws Exception {
                             }, Map::putAll));
 
                     final List<File> validImageFiles =
-                            imageFiles.get().stream().filter(item -> fileNameToMetaDataMap.containsKey(item.getName()))
+                            filteredFiles.stream().filter(item -> fileNameToMetaDataMap.containsKey(item.getName()))
                                       .toList();
 
                     return new ImageMetaDataLoadingResult(fileNameToMetaDataMap.size(), errorInfoEntries,
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/ui/BoundingBoxDrawingTests.java b/src/test/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/ui/BoundingBoxDrawingTests.java
index 9ca0dcc..17452bf 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/ui/BoundingBoxDrawingTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/github/mfl28/boundingboxeditor/ui/BoundingBoxDrawingTests.java
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ void onOpeningNewImageFolder_WhenBoundingBoxesExist_ShouldResetCorrectly(FxRobot
 
         final IOErrorInfoEntry referenceErrorInfoEntry1 = new IOErrorInfoEntry("cameraman.tif",
                                                                                "Unsupported image file format.");
-        final IOErrorInfoEntry referenceErrorInfoEntry2 = new IOErrorInfoEntry("no_image_file.txt",
+        final IOErrorInfoEntry referenceErrorInfoEntry2 = new IOErrorInfoEntry("no_image_file.pdf",
                                                                                "Invalid image file.");
 
         verifyThat(errorInfoEntries, Matchers.contains(referenceErrorInfoEntry1, referenceErrorInfoEntry2),
diff --git a/src/test/resources/testimages/2/no_image_file.txt b/src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.data
similarity index 100%
rename from src/test/resources/testimages/2/no_image_file.txt
rename to src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.data
diff --git a/src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.json b/src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.txt b/src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.xml b/src/test/resources/testimages/2/dummy.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/test/resources/testimages/2/no_image_file.pdf b/src/test/resources/testimages/2/no_image_file.pdf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29