diff --git a/src/libs/utils/impl/Path.cpp b/src/libs/utils/impl/Path.cpp
index 1d0b58ae..a2297a37 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/impl/Path.cpp
+++ b/src/libs/utils/impl/Path.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ getLastWriteTime(const std::filesystem::path& file)
 	return Wt::WDateTime::fromTime_t(sb.st_mtime);
 }
 
-void
+bool
 exploreFilesRecursive(const std::filesystem::path& directory, std::function<bool(std::error_code, const std::filesystem::path&)> cb)
 {
 	std::error_code ec;
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ exploreFilesRecursive(const std::filesystem::path& directory, std::function<bool
 	if (ec)
 	{
 		cb(ec, directory);
-		return;
+		return true; // try to continue exploring anyway
 	}
 
 	std::filesystem::directory_iterator itEnd;
@@ -108,16 +108,18 @@ exploreFilesRecursive(const std::filesystem::path& directory, std::function<bool
 			else if (std::filesystem::is_directory(*itPath, ec))
 			{
 				if (!ec)
-					exploreFilesRecursive(*itPath, cb);
+					continueExploring = exploreFilesRecursive(*itPath, cb);
 				else
 					continueExploring = cb(ec, *itPath);
 			}
 		}
 
 		if (!continueExploring)
-			break;
+			return false;
 
 		itPath.increment(ec);
 	}
+
+	return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libs/utils/include/utils/Path.hpp b/src/libs/utils/include/utils/Path.hpp
index 659442f9..720afe78 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/include/utils/Path.hpp
+++ b/src/libs/utils/include/utils/Path.hpp
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ bool ensureDirectory(const std::filesystem::path& dir);
 // Get the last write time since Epoch
 Wt::WDateTime getLastWriteTime(const std::filesystem::path& dir);
 
-void exploreFilesRecursive(const std::filesystem::path& directory, std::function<bool(std::error_code, const std::filesystem::path&)> cb);
+// returns false if aborted by user
+bool exploreFilesRecursive(const std::filesystem::path& directory, std::function<bool(std::error_code, const std::filesystem::path&)> cb);
 
 namespace std
 {