diff --git a/sqlcl/format.js b/sqlcl/format.js
index e21a4d1c..25f9dfef 100644
--- a/sqlcl/format.js
+++ b/sqlcl/format.js
@@ -260,11 +260,27 @@ var getCdPath = function (path) {
     }
 }
 
+var replaceAll = function(input, pattern, replacement) {
+    var p = javaPattern.compile(pattern);
+    var m = p.matcher(input);
+    var result = "";
+    var pos = 0;
+    while (m.find()) {
+        result += input.substring(pos, m.start());
+        result += replacement;
+        pos = m.end();
+    }
+    if (input.length > pos) {
+        result += input.substring(pos);
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
 var createIgnoreMatcher = function (ignorePath) {
     var globPattern = "glob:{"
     var lines = javaFiles.readAllLines(javaPaths.get(ignorePath));
     for (var i=0; i < lines.size(); i++) {
-        var line = lines[i].trim();
+        var line = replaceAll(lines[i].trim(), "(\\\\)", "/");
         if (line.length > 0 && line.indexOf('#') === -1) {
             if (globPattern.length > 6) {
                 globPattern += ",";
diff --git a/standalone/src/test/java/com/trivadis/plsql/formatter/sqlcl/tests/TvdFormatIgnoreTest.java b/standalone/src/test/java/com/trivadis/plsql/formatter/sqlcl/tests/TvdFormatIgnoreTest.java
index 311b76bc..e28b880c 100644
--- a/standalone/src/test/java/com/trivadis/plsql/formatter/sqlcl/tests/TvdFormatIgnoreTest.java
+++ b/standalone/src/test/java/com/trivadis/plsql/formatter/sqlcl/tests/TvdFormatIgnoreTest.java
@@ -52,4 +52,20 @@ public void ignore_two_files() throws IOException {
         var actual = runCommand( "tvdformat " + tempDir.toString() + " ignore=" + tempDir + File.separator + "ignore.txt");
         Assertions.assertTrue(actual.contains("2 of 2"));
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void ignore_two_files_windows_separator() throws IOException {
+        // must run in an own test class, reason is not clear
+        var ignoreFileContent = """
+                # ignore package bodies (single backslash)
+                **\\*.pkb
+                
+                # Ignore files with syntax errors (single backslash)
+                **\\*syntax*
+                """;
+        final Path ignoreFile = Paths.get(tempDir + File.separator + "ignore2.txt");
+        Files.write(ignoreFile, ignoreFileContent.getBytes());
+        var actual = runCommand( "tvdformat " + tempDir.toString() + " ignore=" + tempDir + File.separator + "ignore2.txt");
+        Assertions.assertTrue(actual.contains("2 of 2"));
+    }
 }