diff --git a/src/cli/docs.go b/src/cli/docs.go
index e055749..af4049d 100644
--- a/src/cli/docs.go
+++ b/src/cli/docs.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Mark FILE(s) for deletion.
 
 -f, --force				Bypass protections
 
--v, --verbose			Add additional information to the output
+-v, --verbose				Add additional information to the output
 
 --help					Display this help and (without deleting anything)
 
diff --git a/src/config/parse_test.go b/src/config/parse_test.go
index 86d4312..a0ee41c 100644
--- a/src/config/parse_test.go
+++ b/src/config/parse_test.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ func TestParsingConfig(t *testing.T) {
 			"*.partial",
 		},
 		Soft: []string{
+			"backups/",
 			"*.bak",
 		},
 		Protected: []string{
diff --git a/src/models/config.go b/src/models/config.go
index b9d717b..5d3f17f 100644
--- a/src/models/config.go
+++ b/src/models/config.go
@@ -94,13 +94,16 @@ func (config Config) InteractiveThreshold() int {
 }
 
 func matchesPattern(pattern string, path string) bool {
-	// we put a wildcard at the start so that we don't have to match full
-	// paths
-	isAbsolutePath := strings.HasPrefix(path, "/")
-	if !isAbsolutePath {
-		pattern = "*" + pattern
+	// Normalize the pattern and path
+	normalizedPattern := filepath.Clean(pattern)
+	normalizedPath := filepath.Clean(path)
+
+	// Check if the pattern matches the path
+	matched, _ := filepath.Match(normalizedPattern, normalizedPath)
+	if matched {
+		return true
 	}
 
-	matched, _ := filepath.Match(pattern, path)
-	return matched
+	hasSuffix := strings.HasSuffix(normalizedPath, normalizedPattern)
+	return hasSuffix
 }
diff --git a/src/models/config_test.go b/src/models/config_test.go
index e6ca0cd..c5b82c8 100644
--- a/src/models/config_test.go
+++ b/src/models/config_test.go
@@ -56,6 +56,44 @@ func TestConfig(t *testing.T) {
 			testedPath:     "node_modules/",
 			expectedResult: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:           "HardDeleteWithPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldHardDelete,
+			testedPath:     "./node_modules/",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "HardDeleteWithLongPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldHardDelete,
+			testedPath:     "./Documents/client/node_modules/",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
+		{
+			// while we specified node_modules/ as a hard delete inside the
+			// config, test.txt does not match the hard delete config pattern
+			// so we expect the nested file to use the default soft-delete
+			name:           "HardDeleteWithSuffix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldHardDelete,
+			testedPath:     "node_modules/test.txt",
+			expectedResult: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "HardDeleteWithLongSuffix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldHardDelete,
+			testedPath:     "node_modules/sub_package/dist/test.txt",
+			expectedResult: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "HardDeleteWithSuffixAndPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldHardDelete,
+			testedPath:     "/home/john_doe/Documents/client/node_modules/test.txt",
+			expectedResult: false,
+		},
 		{
 			name:           "NotHardDelete",
 			configPath:     "valid.yml",
@@ -86,6 +124,20 @@ func TestConfig(t *testing.T) {
 			testedPath:     "file.bak",
 			expectedResult: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:           "SoftDeleteWithPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldSoftDelete,
+			testedPath:     "./file.bak",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "SoftDeleteWithLongPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldSoftDelete,
+			testedPath:     "./.local/share/2rm/file.bak",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name:           "NotSoftDelete",
 			configPath:     "valid.yml",
@@ -116,6 +168,20 @@ func TestConfig(t *testing.T) {
 			testedPath:     ".ssh/",
 			expectedResult: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:           "ProtectedWithPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.IsProtected,
+			testedPath:     "./.ssh/",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "ProtectedWithLongPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.IsProtected,
+			testedPath:     "./john-doe/crypto/.ssh/",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name:           "NotProtected",
 			configPath:     "valid.yml",
@@ -146,6 +212,20 @@ func TestConfig(t *testing.T) {
 			testedPath:     ".ssh/test.pem",
 			expectedResult: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:           "OverwriteWithPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldOverwrite,
+			testedPath:     "./.ssh/test.pem",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "OverwriteWithLongPrefix",
+			configPath:     "valid.yml",
+			configFunction: models.Config.ShouldOverwrite,
+			testedPath:     "./john-doe/crypto/.ssh/test.pem",
+			expectedResult: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name:           "DontOverwrite",
 			configPath:     "valid.yml",
diff --git a/src/patches/rm.go b/src/patches/rm.go
index f16f819..2b39ddf 100644
--- a/src/patches/rm.go
+++ b/src/patches/rm.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func RmPatch(arguments []string, config models.Config) {
 
 	if shouldNotify {
 		fileNames := strings.Join(filePaths, ", ")
-		err := beeep.Notify("2rm", "Finished deletion request '"+fileNames+"'", "")
+		err := beeep.Notify("2rm", "Completed deletion '"+fileNames+"'", "")
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
 		}
@@ -81,7 +81,11 @@ func extractFilePaths(input []string) []string {
 
 	for _, str := range input {
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(str, "-") {
-			filePaths = append(filePaths, str)
+			if util.IsDirectory(str) && !strings.HasSuffix(str, "/") {
+				filePaths = append(filePaths, str+"/")
+			} else {
+				filePaths = append(filePaths, str)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/assets/configs/valid.yml b/tests/assets/configs/valid.yml
index cb5631b..cf200c6 100644
--- a/tests/assets/configs/valid.yml
+++ b/tests/assets/configs/valid.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ hard:
     - ".next/"
     - "*.partial"
 soft:
+    - "backups/"
     - "*.bak"
 protected:
     - ".ssh/"