diff --git a/extensions/npm/README.md b/extensions/npm/README.md
index 4bca043bc4a..e52ac4bf7ea 100644
--- a/extensions/npm/README.md
+++ b/extensions/npm/README.md
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ To run scripts as tasks you use the `Tasks` menu.
 - `npm.autoDetect` enable detecting scripts as tasks, the default is `on`.
 - `npm.runSilent` run npm script with the `--silent` option, the default is `false`.
 - `npm.packageManager` the package manager used to run the scripts: `npm` or `yarn`, the default is `npm`.
+- `npm.exclude` glob patterns for folders that should be excluded from automatic script detection. The pattern is matched against the **absolute path** of the package.json. For example to exclude all test folders user '**/test/**.
diff --git a/extensions/npm/package.json b/extensions/npm/package.json
index 2997fb03f59..ba3ae2f7f45 100644
--- a/extensions/npm/package.json
+++ b/extensions/npm/package.json
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "jsonc-parser": "^1.0.0",
+    "minimatch": "^3.0.4",
     "request-light": "^0.2.2",
     "vscode-nls": "^3.2.1"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@types/minimatch": "^3.0.3",
     "@types/node": "7.0.43"
   },
   "main": "./out/main",
@@ -59,6 +61,17 @@
           ],
           "default": "npm",
           "description": "%config.npm.packageManager%"
+        },
+        "npm.exclude": {
+          "type": [
+            "string",
+            "array"
+          ],
+          "items": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "description": "%config.npm.exclude%",
+          "scope": "window"
         }
       }
     },
@@ -91,4 +104,4 @@
       }
     ]
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/extensions/npm/package.nls.json b/extensions/npm/package.nls.json
index 5850ad89ad2..0a9ece35f6e 100644
--- a/extensions/npm/package.nls.json
+++ b/extensions/npm/package.nls.json
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 	"config.npm.autoDetect": "Controls whether auto detection of npm scripts is on or off. Default is on.",
 	"config.npm.runSilent": "Run npm commands with the `--silent` option.",
 	"config.npm.packageManager": "The package manager used to run scripts.",
+	"config.npm.exclude": "Configure glob patterns for folders that should be excluded from automatic script detection.",
 	"npm.parseError": "Npm task detection: failed to parse the file {0}",
 	"taskdef.script": "The npm script to customize.",
 	"taskdef.path": "The path to the folder of the package.json file that provides the script. Can be ommitted."
diff --git a/extensions/npm/src/main.ts b/extensions/npm/src/main.ts
index a115bf315d7..ad57992cc88 100644
--- a/extensions/npm/src/main.ts
+++ b/extensions/npm/src/main.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as httpRequest from 'request-light';
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
 import * as nls from 'vscode-nls';
+import * as minimatch from 'minimatch';
+
 const localize = nls.loadMessageBundle();
 
 import { addJSONProviders } from './features/jsonContributions';
@@ -97,15 +99,17 @@ function isNotPreOrPostScript(script: string): boolean {
 async function provideNpmScripts(): Promise<vscode.Task[]> {
 	let emptyTasks: vscode.Task[] = [];
 	let allTasks: vscode.Task[] = [];
-	let folders = vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders;
 
-	if (!folders) {
+	let paths = await vscode.workspace.findFiles('**/package.json', '**/node_modules/**');
+	if (paths.length === 0) {
 		return emptyTasks;
 	}
+
 	try {
-		for (let i = 0; i < folders.length; i++) {
-			if (isEnabled(folders[i])) {
-				let tasks = await provideNpmScriptsForFolder(folders[i]);
+		for (let i = 0; i < paths.length; i++) {
+			let folder = vscode.workspace.getWorkspaceFolder(paths[i]);
+			if (folder && isEnabled(folder) && !isExcluded(folder, paths[i])) {
+				let tasks = await provideNpmScriptsForFolder(paths[i]);
 				allTasks.push(...tasks);
 			}
 		}
@@ -119,19 +123,45 @@ function isEnabled(folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder): boolean {
 	return vscode.workspace.getConfiguration('npm', folder.uri).get<AutoDetect>('autoDetect') === 'on';
 }
 
-async function provideNpmScriptsForFolder(folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder): Promise<vscode.Task[]> {
+function isExcluded(folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder, packageJsonUri: vscode.Uri) {
+	function testForExclusionPattern(path: string, pattern: string): boolean {
+		return minimatch(path, pattern, { dot: true });
+	}
+
+	let exclude = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration('npm', folder.uri).get<string | string[]>('exclude');
+
+	if (exclude) {
+		if (Array.isArray(exclude)) {
+			for (let pattern of exclude) {
+				if (testForExclusionPattern(packageJsonUri.fsPath, pattern)) {
+					return true;
+				}
+			}
+		} else if (testForExclusionPattern(packageJsonUri.fsPath, exclude)) {
+			return true;
+		}
+	}
+	return false;
+}
+
+async function provideNpmScriptsForFolder(packageJsonUri: vscode.Uri): Promise<vscode.Task[]> {
 	let emptyTasks: vscode.Task[] = [];
 
-	if (folder.uri.scheme !== 'file') {
+	if (packageJsonUri.scheme !== 'file') {
 		return emptyTasks;
 	}
-	let rootPath = folder.uri.fsPath;
 
-	let packageJson = path.join(rootPath, 'package.json');
+	let packageJson = packageJsonUri.fsPath;
+
 	if (!await exists(packageJson)) {
 		return emptyTasks;
 	}
 
+	let folder = vscode.workspace.getWorkspaceFolder(packageJsonUri);
+	if (!folder) {
+		return emptyTasks;
+	}
+
 	try {
 		var contents = await readFile(packageJson);
 		var json = JSON.parse(contents);
@@ -141,7 +171,7 @@ async function provideNpmScriptsForFolder(folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder): Promi
 
 		const result: vscode.Task[] = [];
 		Object.keys(json.scripts).filter(isNotPreOrPostScript).forEach(each => {
-			const task = createTask(each, `run ${each}`, rootPath, folder);
+			const task = createTask(each, `run ${each}`, folder!, packageJsonUri);
 			const lowerCaseTaskName = each.toLowerCase();
 			if (isBuildTask(lowerCaseTaskName)) {
 				task.group = vscode.TaskGroup.Build;
@@ -154,14 +184,17 @@ async function provideNpmScriptsForFolder(folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder): Promi
 		// result.push(createTask('install', 'install', rootPath, folder, []));
 		return result;
 	} catch (e) {
-		let localizedParseError = localize('npm.parseError', 'Npm task detection: failed to parse the file {0}', packageJson);
+		let localizedParseError = localize('npm.parseError', 'Npm task detection: failed to parse the file {0}', packageJsonUri);
 		throw new Error(localizedParseError);
 	}
 }
 
-function createTask(script: string, cmd: string, rootPath: string, folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder, matcher?: any): vscode.Task {
+function createTask(script: string, cmd: string, folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder, packageJsonUri: vscode.Uri, matcher?: any): vscode.Task {
 
-	function getTaskName(script: string) {
+	function getTaskName(script: string, file: string) {
+		if (file.length) {
+			return `${script} - ${file.substring(0, file.length - 1)}`;
+		}
 		return script;
 	}
 
@@ -173,10 +206,21 @@ function createTask(script: string, cmd: string, rootPath: string, folder: vscod
 		return `${packageManager} ${cmd}`;
 	}
 
+	function getRelativePath(folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder, packageJsonUri: vscode.Uri): string {
+		let rootUri = folder.uri;
+		let absolutePath = packageJsonUri.fsPath;
+		return absolutePath.substring(rootUri.fsPath.length + 1, absolutePath.length - 'package.json'.length);
+	}
+
 	let kind: NpmTaskDefinition = {
 		type: 'npm',
 		script: script
 	};
-	let taskName = getTaskName(script);
-	return new vscode.Task(kind, folder, taskName, 'npm', new vscode.ShellExecution(getCommandLine(folder, cmd), { cwd: rootPath }), matcher);
+	let relativePackageJson = getRelativePath(folder, packageJsonUri);
+	if (relativePackageJson.length) {
+		kind.file = getRelativePath(folder, packageJsonUri);
+	}
+	let taskName = getTaskName(script, relativePackageJson);
+	let cwd = path.dirname(packageJsonUri.fsPath);
+	return new vscode.Task(kind, folder, taskName, 'npm', new vscode.ShellExecution(getCommandLine(folder, cmd), { cwd: cwd }), matcher);
 }
diff --git a/extensions/npm/yarn.lock b/extensions/npm/yarn.lock
index 2b88873cecc..741a6fe9a22 100644
--- a/extensions/npm/yarn.lock
+++ b/extensions/npm/yarn.lock
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 # yarn lockfile v1
 
 
+"@types/minimatch@^3.0.3":
+  version "3.0.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/minimatch/-/minimatch-3.0.3.tgz#3dca0e3f33b200fc7d1139c0cd96c1268cadfd9d"
+
 "@types/node@7.0.43":
   version "7.0.43"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/node/-/node-7.0.43.tgz#a187e08495a075f200ca946079c914e1a5fe962c"
@@ -12,6 +16,21 @@ agent-base@4, agent-base@^4.1.0:
   dependencies:
     es6-promisify "^5.0.0"
 
+balanced-match@^1.0.0:
+  version "1.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/balanced-match/-/balanced-match-1.0.0.tgz#89b4d199ab2bee49de164ea02b89ce462d71b767"
+
+brace-expansion@^1.1.7:
+  version "1.1.11"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/brace-expansion/-/brace-expansion-1.1.11.tgz#3c7fcbf529d87226f3d2f52b966ff5271eb441dd"
+  dependencies:
+    balanced-match "^1.0.0"
+    concat-map "0.0.1"
+
+concat-map@0.0.1:
+  version "0.0.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/concat-map/-/concat-map-0.0.1.tgz#d8a96bd77fd68df7793a73036a3ba0d5405d477b"
+
 debug@2:
   version "2.6.9"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/debug/-/debug-2.6.9.tgz#5d128515df134ff327e90a4c93f4e077a536341f"
@@ -52,6 +71,12 @@ jsonc-parser@^1.0.0:
   version "1.0.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/jsonc-parser/-/jsonc-parser-1.0.1.tgz#7f8f296414e6e7c4a33b9e4914fc8c47e4421675"
 
+minimatch@^3.0.4:
+  version "3.0.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/minimatch/-/minimatch-3.0.4.tgz#5166e286457f03306064be5497e8dbb0c3d32083"
+  dependencies:
+    brace-expansion "^1.1.7"
+
 ms@2.0.0:
   version "2.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ms/-/ms-2.0.0.tgz#5608aeadfc00be6c2901df5f9861788de0d597c8"