diff --git a/docs/release-notes.md b/docs/release-notes.md
index 68763598..14d1a8fa 100644
--- a/docs/release-notes.md
+++ b/docs/release-notes.md
@@ -5,9 +5,12 @@ These changes have not been released yet.
 * For players:
   * Updated for Stardew Valley 1.4.
   * Improved performance.
-  * Updated mod compatibility list.
   * Rewrote launch script on Linux to improve compatibility (thanks to kurumushi and toastal!).
-  * Improved handling for XNB mods unzipped into `Mods` (improved detection over generic invalid mods, and multi-folder XNB mods are now counted as one mod).
+  * Improved mod scanning:
+    * Now ignores metadata files/folders like `__MACOSX` and `__folder_managed_by_vortex`.
+    * Now ignores content files like `.txt` or `.png`, which avoids missing-manifest errors in some common cases.
+    * Now detects XNB mods more accurately, and consolidates multi-folder XNB mods.
+  * Updated mod compatibility list.
   * Fixed Save Backup not pruning old backups if they're uncompressed.
   * Fixed issues when a farmhand reconnects before the game notices they're disconnected.
   * Fixed 'received message' logs shown in non-developer mode.
diff --git a/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModFolder.cs b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModFolder.cs
index adfee527..4ce17c66 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModFolder.cs
+++ b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModFolder.cs
@@ -25,30 +25,38 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
         public Manifest Manifest { get; }
 
         /// <summary>The error which occurred parsing the manifest, if any.</summary>
-        public string ManifestParseError { get; }
+        public ModParseError ManifestParseError { get; set; }
 
-        /// <summary>Whether the mod should be loaded by default. This is <c>false</c> if it was found within a folder whose name starts with a dot.</summary>
-        public bool ShouldBeLoaded { get; }
+        /// <summary>A human-readable message for the <see cref="ManifestParseError"/>, if any.</summary>
+        public string ManifestParseErrorText { get; set; }
 
 
         /*********
         ** Public methods
         *********/
+        /// <summary>Construct an instance.</summary>
+        /// <param name="root">The root folder containing mods.</param>
+        /// <param name="directory">The folder containing the mod's manifest.json.</param>
+        /// <param name="type">The mod type.</param>
+        /// <param name="manifest">The mod manifest.</param>
+        public ModFolder(DirectoryInfo root, DirectoryInfo directory, ModType type, Manifest manifest)
+            : this(root, directory, type, manifest, ModParseError.None, null) { }
+
         /// <summary>Construct an instance.</summary>
         /// <param name="root">The root folder containing mods.</param>
         /// <param name="directory">The folder containing the mod's manifest.json.</param>
         /// <param name="type">The mod type.</param>
         /// <param name="manifest">The mod manifest.</param>
         /// <param name="manifestParseError">The error which occurred parsing the manifest, if any.</param>
-        /// <param name="shouldBeLoaded">Whether the mod should be loaded by default. This should be <c>false</c> if it was found within a folder whose name starts with a dot.</param>
-        public ModFolder(DirectoryInfo root, DirectoryInfo directory, ModType type, Manifest manifest, string manifestParseError = null, bool shouldBeLoaded = true)
+        /// <param name="manifestParseErrorText">A human-readable message for the <paramref name="manifestParseError"/>, if any.</param>
+        public ModFolder(DirectoryInfo root, DirectoryInfo directory, ModType type, Manifest manifest, ModParseError manifestParseError, string manifestParseErrorText)
         {
             // save info
             this.Directory = directory;
             this.Type = type;
             this.Manifest = manifest;
             this.ManifestParseError = manifestParseError;
-            this.ShouldBeLoaded = shouldBeLoaded;
+            this.ManifestParseErrorText = manifestParseErrorText;
 
             // set display name
             this.DisplayName = manifest?.Name;
diff --git a/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModParseError.cs b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModParseError.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b10510ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModParseError.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
+{
+    /// <summary>Indicates why a mod could not be parsed.</summary>
+    public enum ModParseError
+    {
+        /// <summary>No parse error.</summary>
+        None,
+
+        /// <summary>The folder is empty or contains only ignored files.</summary>
+        EmptyFolder,
+
+        /// <summary>The folder is ignored by convention.</summary>
+        IgnoredFolder,
+
+        /// <summary>The mod's <c>manifest.json</c> could not be parsed.</summary>
+        ManifestInvalid,
+
+        /// <summary>The folder contains non-ignored and non-XNB files, but none of them are <c>manifest.json</c>.</summary>
+        ManifestMissing,
+
+        /// <summary>The folder is an XNB mod, which can't be loaded through SMAPI.</summary>
+        XnbMod
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModScanner.cs b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModScanner.cs
index ae0f292f..54cb2b8b 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModScanner.cs
+++ b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModScanner.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Serialisation;
 using StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Serialisation.Models;
 
@@ -17,20 +18,32 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
         private readonly JsonHelper JsonHelper;
 
         /// <summary>A list of filesystem entry names to ignore when checking whether a folder should be treated as a mod.</summary>
-        private readonly HashSet<string> IgnoreFilesystemEntries = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)
+        private readonly HashSet<Regex> IgnoreFilesystemEntries = new HashSet<Regex>
         {
-            ".DS_Store",
-            "mcs",
-            "Thumbs.db"
+            // OS metadata files
+            new Regex(@"^__folder_managed_by_vortex$", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase), // Vortex mod manager
+            new Regex(@"^(?:__MACOSX|\._\.DS_Store|\.DS_Store|mcs)$", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase), // MacOS
+            new Regex(@"^(?:desktop\.ini|Thumbs\.db)$", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase), // Windows
+            new Regex(@"\.(?:url|lnk)$", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase), // Windows shortcut files
+
+            // other
+            new Regex(@"\.(?:bmp|gif|jpeg|jpg|png|psd|tif)$", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase), // image files
+            new Regex(@"\.(?:md|rtf|txt)$", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase), // text files
+            new Regex(@"\.(?:backup|bak|old)$", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase) // backup file
         };
 
-        /// <summary>The extensions for files which an XNB mod may contain. If a mod contains *only* these file extensions, it should be considered an XNB mod.</summary>
+        /// <summary>The extensions for files which an XNB mod may contain. If a mod doesn't have a <c>manifest.json</c> and contains *only* these file extensions, it should be considered an XNB mod.</summary>
         private readonly HashSet<string> PotentialXnbModExtensions = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)
         {
-            ".md",
-            ".png",
-            ".txt",
-            ".xnb"
+            // XNB files
+            ".xgs",
+            ".xnb",
+            ".xsb",
+            ".xwb",
+
+            // unpacking artifacts
+            ".json",
+            ".yaml"
         };
 
 
@@ -72,30 +85,36 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
             // set appropriate invalid-mod error
             if (manifestFile == null)
             {
-                FileInfo[] files = searchFolder.GetFiles("*", SearchOption.AllDirectories).Where(this.IsRelevant).ToArray();
+                FileInfo[] files = this.RecursivelyGetRelevantFiles(searchFolder).ToArray();
                 if (!files.Any())
-                    return new ModFolder(root, searchFolder, ModType.Invalid, null, "it's an empty folder.");
-                if (files.All(file => this.PotentialXnbModExtensions.Contains(file.Extension)))
-                    return new ModFolder(root, searchFolder, ModType.Xnb, null, "it's not a SMAPI mod (see https://smapi.io/xnb for info).");
-                return new ModFolder(root, searchFolder, ModType.Invalid, null, "it contains files, but none of them are manifest.json.");
+                    return new ModFolder(root, searchFolder, ModType.Invalid, null, ModParseError.EmptyFolder, "it's an empty folder.");
+                if (files.All(this.IsPotentialXnbFile))
+                    return new ModFolder(root, searchFolder, ModType.Xnb, null, ModParseError.XnbMod, "it's not a SMAPI mod (see https://smapi.io/xnb for info).");
+                return new ModFolder(root, searchFolder, ModType.Invalid, null, ModParseError.ManifestMissing, "it contains files, but none of them are manifest.json.");
             }
 
             // read mod info
             Manifest manifest = null;
-            string manifestError = null;
+            ModParseError error = ModParseError.None;
+            string errorText = null;
             {
                 try
                 {
                     if (!this.JsonHelper.ReadJsonFileIfExists<Manifest>(manifestFile.FullName, out manifest) || manifest == null)
-                        manifestError = "its manifest is invalid.";
+                    {
+                        error = ModParseError.ManifestInvalid;
+                        errorText = "its manifest is invalid.";
+                    }
                 }
                 catch (SParseException ex)
                 {
-                    manifestError = $"parsing its manifest failed: {ex.Message}";
+                    error = ModParseError.ManifestInvalid;
+                    errorText = $"parsing its manifest failed: {ex.Message}";
                 }
                 catch (Exception ex)
                 {
-                    manifestError = $"parsing its manifest failed:\n{ex}";
+                    error = ModParseError.ManifestInvalid;
+                    errorText = $"parsing its manifest failed:\n{ex}";
                 }
             }
 
@@ -117,7 +136,7 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
             }
 
             // build result
-            return new ModFolder(root, manifestFile.Directory, type, manifest, manifestError);
+            return new ModFolder(root, manifestFile.Directory, type, manifest, error, errorText);
         }
 
 
@@ -127,28 +146,30 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
         /// <summary>Recursively extract information about all mods in the given folder.</summary>
         /// <param name="root">The root mod folder.</param>
         /// <param name="folder">The folder to search for mods.</param>
-        public IEnumerable<ModFolder> GetModFolders(DirectoryInfo root, DirectoryInfo folder)
+        private IEnumerable<ModFolder> GetModFolders(DirectoryInfo root, DirectoryInfo folder)
         {
             bool isRoot = folder.FullName == root.FullName;
 
             // skip
-            if (!isRoot && folder.Name.StartsWith("."))
-                yield return new ModFolder(root, folder, ModType.Invalid, null, "ignored folder because its name starts with a dot.", shouldBeLoaded: false);
+            if (!isRoot)
+            {
+                if (folder.Name.StartsWith("."))
+                {
+                    yield return new ModFolder(root, folder, ModType.Ignored, null, ModParseError.IgnoredFolder, "ignored folder because its name starts with a dot.");
+                    yield break;
+                }
+                if (!this.IsRelevant(folder))
+                    yield break;
+            }
 
             // find mods in subfolders
-            else if (this.IsModSearchFolder(root, folder))
+            if (this.IsModSearchFolder(root, folder))
             {
-                ModFolder[] subfolders = folder.EnumerateDirectories().SelectMany(sub => this.GetModFolders(root, sub)).ToArray();
-                if (!isRoot && subfolders.Length > 1 && subfolders.All(p => p.Type == ModType.Xnb))
-                {
-                    // if this isn't the root, and all subfolders are XNB mods, treat the whole folder as one XNB mod
-                    yield return new ModFolder(folder, folder, ModType.Xnb, null, subfolders[0].ManifestParseError);
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    foreach (ModFolder subfolder in subfolders)
-                        yield return subfolder;
-                }
+                IEnumerable<ModFolder> subfolders = folder.EnumerateDirectories().SelectMany(sub => this.GetModFolders(root, sub));
+                if (!isRoot)
+                    subfolders = this.TryConsolidate(root, folder, subfolders.ToArray());
+                foreach (ModFolder subfolder in subfolders)
+                    yield return subfolder;
             }
 
             // treat as mod folder
@@ -156,6 +177,26 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
                 yield return this.ReadFolder(root, folder);
         }
 
+        /// <summary>Consolidate adjacent folders into one mod folder, if possible.</summary>
+        /// <param name="root">The folder containing both parent and subfolders.</param>
+        /// <param name="parentFolder">The parent folder to consolidate, if possible.</param>
+        /// <param name="subfolders">The subfolders to consolidate, if possible.</param>
+        private IEnumerable<ModFolder> TryConsolidate(DirectoryInfo root, DirectoryInfo parentFolder, ModFolder[] subfolders)
+        {
+            if (subfolders.Length > 1)
+            {
+                // a collection of empty folders
+                if (subfolders.All(p => p.ManifestParseError == ModParseError.EmptyFolder))
+                    return new[] { new ModFolder(root, parentFolder, ModType.Invalid, null, ModParseError.EmptyFolder, subfolders[0].ManifestParseErrorText) };
+
+                // an XNB mod
+                if (subfolders.All(p => p.Type == ModType.Xnb || p.ManifestParseError == ModParseError.EmptyFolder))
+                    return new[] { new ModFolder(root, parentFolder, ModType.Xnb, null, ModParseError.XnbMod, subfolders[0].ManifestParseErrorText) };
+            }
+
+            return subfolders;
+        }
+
         /// <summary>Find the manifest for a mod folder.</summary>
         /// <param name="folder">The folder to search.</param>
         private FileInfo FindManifest(DirectoryInfo folder)
@@ -193,11 +234,41 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
             return subfolders.Any() && !files.Any();
         }
 
+        /// <summary>Recursively get all relevant files in a folder based on the result of <see cref="IsRelevant"/>.</summary>
+        /// <param name="folder">The root folder to search.</param>
+        private IEnumerable<FileInfo> RecursivelyGetRelevantFiles(DirectoryInfo folder)
+        {
+            foreach (FileSystemInfo entry in folder.GetFileSystemInfos())
+            {
+                if (!this.IsRelevant(entry))
+                    continue;
+
+                if (entry is FileInfo file)
+                    yield return file;
+
+                if (entry is DirectoryInfo subfolder)
+                {
+                    foreach (FileInfo subfolderFile in this.RecursivelyGetRelevantFiles(subfolder))
+                        yield return subfolderFile;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         /// <summary>Get whether a file or folder is relevant when deciding how to process a mod folder.</summary>
         /// <param name="entry">The file or folder.</param>
         private bool IsRelevant(FileSystemInfo entry)
         {
-            return !this.IgnoreFilesystemEntries.Contains(entry.Name);
+            return !this.IgnoreFilesystemEntries.Any(p => p.IsMatch(entry.Name));
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>Get whether a file is potentially part of an XNB mod.</summary>
+        /// <param name="entry">The file.</param>
+        private bool IsPotentialXnbFile(FileInfo entry)
+        {
+            if (!this.IsRelevant(entry))
+                return true;
+
+            return this.PotentialXnbModExtensions.Contains(entry.Extension); // use EndsWith to handle cases like image..png
         }
 
         /// <summary>Strip newlines from a string.</summary>
diff --git a/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModType.cs b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModType.cs
index 2ceb9e40..bc86edb6 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModType.cs
+++ b/src/SMAPI.Toolkit/Framework/ModScanning/ModType.cs
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Toolkit.Framework.ModScanning
         /// <summary>The mod is invalid and its type could not be determined.</summary>
         Invalid,
 
+        /// <summary>The folder is ignored by convention.</summary>
+        Ignored,
+
         /// <summary>A mod which uses SMAPI directly.</summary>
         Smapi,
 
diff --git a/src/SMAPI/Framework/ModLoading/ModResolver.cs b/src/SMAPI/Framework/ModLoading/ModResolver.cs
index f2002530..b6bdb357 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI/Framework/ModLoading/ModResolver.cs
+++ b/src/SMAPI/Framework/ModLoading/ModResolver.cs
@@ -38,13 +38,14 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Framework.ModLoading
                 }
 
                 // build metadata
-                ModMetadataStatus status = folder.ManifestParseError == null || !folder.ShouldBeLoaded
+                bool shouldIgnore = folder.Type == ModType.Ignored;
+                ModMetadataStatus status = folder.ManifestParseError == ModParseError.None || shouldIgnore
                     ? ModMetadataStatus.Found
                     : ModMetadataStatus.Failed;
                 string relativePath = PathUtilities.GetRelativePath(rootPath, folder.Directory.FullName);
 
-                yield return new ModMetadata(folder.DisplayName, folder.Directory.FullName, relativePath, manifest, dataRecord, isIgnored: !folder.ShouldBeLoaded)
-                    .SetStatus(status, !folder.ShouldBeLoaded ? "disabled by dot convention" : folder.ManifestParseError);
+                yield return new ModMetadata(folder.DisplayName, folder.Directory.FullName, relativePath, manifest, dataRecord, isIgnored: shouldIgnore)
+                    .SetStatus(status, shouldIgnore ? "disabled by dot convention" : folder.ManifestParseErrorText);
             }
         }