diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9c0e906..9cafca3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@ npm-debug.log
 node_modules
 *.log
 *.gz
-test/uploadedfiles
\ No newline at end of file
+test/uploadedfiles/*
+!test/uploadedfiles/placeholder.txt
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/uploadedfiles/placeholder.txt b/test/uploadedfiles/placeholder.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32172e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/uploadedfiles/placeholder.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+files are placed here when uploaded using the upload.test.js express server
\ No newline at end of file