diff --git a/simple_backup b/simple_backup
index 8713e3f..99b7490 100755
--- a/simple_backup
+++ b/simple_backup
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-#Version 1.1
+#Version 1.2
 #Simple backup script. Reads options, sources and destination from a configuration file or standard input
 
 #Help function
@@ -74,156 +74,68 @@ function read_conf {
 
    fi
 
-   while read line
-   do
-      #Ignore comments and empty lines
-      if [[ $line == \#* || $line == "" ]]; then
-         continue
-      else
-         #Get option name and values for the current line
-         var=$(echo "$line" | cut -d"=" -f1)
+   #Create temporary files
+   INPUTS=$(mktemp)
+   EXCLUDE=$(mktemp)
+   BACKUP=$(mktemp)
+   NKEEP=$(mktemp)
 
-         case "$var" in
-            #Files/folders to backup
-            inputs)
-               #Create a temporary file to store inputs
-               INPUTS=$(mktemp)
-               tmp=$(echo "$line" | cut -d"=" -f2)
-               n=$(echo "$tmp" | awk -F ',' '{print NF}') #Files/folders must be separated with commas
-               i=1
-               #j=1
-               n_in=0
+   #Parse the configuration file
+   awk -v INPUTS="$INPUTS" -v EXCLUDE="$EXCLUDE" -v BACKUP="$BACKUP" \
+       -v NKEEP="$NKEEP" -v UHOME="$HOME/" -F '[=,]' \
+      '$1=="inputs" { for ( i=2; i<=NF; i++ ) { sub(/^~\//,UHOME,$i); print $i > INPUTS } }
+       $1=="backup_dir" { sub(/^~\//,UHOME,$2); print $2 > BACKUP }
+       $1=="exclude" { for ( i=2; i<=NF; i++ ) { sub(/^~\//,UHOME,$i); print $i > EXCLUDE } }
+       $1=="keep" { if ( $2 != NULL ) { print $2 > NKEEP } }' $CONFIG
 
-               #Read each input and save it to the INPUTS file
-               while [[ $i -le $n ]]
-               do
-                  input=$(echo "$tmp" | cut -d"," -f$i)
-                  input=$(echo "$input" | tr -d \"\')
+   BACKUP_DEV=$(cat $BACKUP)
+   KEEP=$(cat $NKEEP)
+   
+   rm "$BACKUP"
+   rm "$NKEEP"
 
-                  if [[ "$input" =~ ^~/ ]]; then
-                     input=$(echo ${input/\~/$HOME})
-                  fi
+   if [[ -z "$BACKUP_DEV" || ! -d "$BACKUP_DEV" ]]; then
+      #If the backup directory is not set or doesn't exist, exit
+      echo "$(date): Backup failed (see errors.log)" >> $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log
+      echo "Error: Output folder \"$BACKUP_DEV\" not found" | tee -a $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log
+      #If libnotify is installed, show desktop notification that backup failed
+      ! command -v notify-send > /dev/null 2>&1 || DISPLAY=:0.0 notify-send -u low -t 10000 "Backup failed"
 
-                  if [[ ! -e "$input" ]]; then
-                     #Warn the user if an input doesn't exist
-                     echo "Warning: input \"$input\" not found. Skipping" | tee -a $HOME/.simple_backup/warning.log
-                  else
-                     n_in=$((n_in+1))
-                  fi
-
-                  echo "$input" >> $INPUTS
-
-                  i=$((i+1))
-               done
-
-               ;;
-
-            #Directory where the backup is saved
-            backup_dir)
-               BACKUP_DEV=$(echo "$line" | cut -d"=" -f2)
-               BACKUP_DEV=$(echo "$BACKUP_DEV" | tr -d \"\')
-
-               if [[ "$BACKUP_DEV" =~ ^~/ ]]; then
-                  BACKUP_DEV=$(echo ${BACKUP_DEV/\~/$HOME})
-               fi
-
-               if [[ -z "$BACKUP_DEV" ]]; then
-                  #If the backup directory is not set, exit
-                  echo "$(date): Backup failed (see errors.log)" >> $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log
-                  echo "Error: No backup folder set in configuration file" | tee -a $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log
-                  #If libnotify is installed, show desktop notification that backup failed
-                  ! command -v notify-send > /dev/null 2>&1 || DISPLAY=:0.0 notify-send -u low -t 10000 "Backup failed"
-
-                  if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log.old ]]; then
-                     rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log.old
-                  fi
-
-                  if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log.old ]]; then
-                     rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log.old
-                  fi
-
-                  if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log.old ]]; then
-                     rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log.old
-                  fi
-
-                  exit 1
-               fi
-
-               if [[ ! -d "$BACKUP_DEV" ]]; then
-                  #If the backup directory doesn't exist, exit
-                  echo "$(date): Backup failed (see errors.log)" >> $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log
-                  echo "Error: Output folder \"$BACKUP_DEV\" not found" | tee -a $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log
-                  #If libnotify is installed, show desktop notification that backup failed
-                  ! command -v notify-send > /dev/null 2>&1 || DISPLAY=:0.0 notify-send -u low -t 10000 "Backup failed"
-
-                  if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log.old ]]; then
-                     rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log.old
-                  fi
-
-                  if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log.old ]]; then
-                     rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log.old
-                  fi
-
-                  if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log.old ]]; then
-                     rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log.old
-                  fi
-
-                  exit 1
-               fi
-
-               BACKUP_DIR=$BACKUP_DEV/simple_backup
-               DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M)
-
-               #Create the backup subdirectory using date
-               if [[ ! -d "$BACKUP_DIR" ]]; then
-                  mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"
-               else
-                  #If previous backup(s) exist(s), save link to the last backup
-                  LAST_BACKUP=$(readlink -f "$BACKUP_DIR/last_backup")
-                  mkdir "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"
-               fi
-
-               #Set the backup directory variable to the newly created subfolder
-               BACKUP_DIR="$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"
-               ;;
-
-            #Files/directories/patterns to exclude from backup
-            exclude)
-               #Create temp file to store exclude patterns
-               EXCLUDE=$(mktemp)
-               temp=$(echo "$line" | cut -d"=" -f2)
-               i=1
-               n=$(echo "$temp" | awk -F ',' '{print NF}') #Exclude patterns must be separated by commas
-
-               #Read each exclude pattern and save it in the temp file
-               while [[ $i -le $n ]]
-               do
-                  var=$(echo "$temp" | cut -d"," -f$i)
-                  var=$(echo "$var" | tr -d \"\')
-                  
-                  if [[ "$var" =~ ^~/ ]]; then
-                     var=$(echo ${var/\~/$HOME})
-                  fi
-
-                  echo "$var" >> $EXCLUDE
-                  i=$((i+1))
-               done
-               ;;
-
-            #Number of old backups to keep
-            keep)
-               KEEP=$(echo "$line" | cut -d"=" -f2)
-               ;;
-
-            #Unrecognized options
-            *)
-               #Skip unrecognised options
-               echo "$(date): Warning: option \"$var\" not recognised. Skipping" >> $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log
-               ;;
-         esac
+      if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log.old ]]; then
+         rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log.old
       fi
-   done<"$CONFIG"
 
+      if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log.old ]]; then
+         rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log.old
+      fi
+
+      if [[ -f $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log.old ]]; then
+         rm -f $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log.old
+      fi
+
+      rm "$INPUTS"
+      rm "$EXCLUDE"
+
+      exit 1
+   fi
+
+   BACKUP_DIR=$BACKUP_DEV/simple_backup
+   DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M)
+
+   #Create the backup subdirectory using date
+   if [[ ! -d "$BACKUP_DIR" ]]; then
+      mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"
+   else
+   #If previous backup(s) exist(s), save link to the last backup
+      LAST_BACKUP=$(readlink -f "$BACKUP_DIR/last_backup")
+      mkdir "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"
+   fi
+
+   #Set the backup directory variable to the newly created subfolder
+   BACKUP_DIR="$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"
+
+   n_in=$(cat $INPUTS | wc -l)
+   
    return
 }
 
@@ -231,6 +143,9 @@ function read_conf {
 function parse_options {
    i=1
    n_in=0
+   
+   #Create a temporary file to store inputs
+   INPUTS=$(mktemp)
    #Create temp file to store exclude patterns
    EXCLUDE=$(mktemp)
 
@@ -254,12 +169,13 @@ function parse_options {
                mv -f $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log.old $HOME/.simple_backup/warnings.log
             fi
 
+            rm $INPUTS
+            rm $EXCLUDE
+
             exit 0
             ;;
 
          -i | --input)
-            #Create a temporary file to store inputs
-            INPUTS=$(mktemp)
 
             while [[ "$#" -gt 1 && ! "$2" =~ ^- ]]
             do
@@ -496,9 +412,9 @@ if [[ ! -z "$INPUTS" ]]; then
 fi
 
 if [[ -z "$LAST_BACKUP" ]]; then
-   rsync -acrv -H -X -R --exclude-from="$EXCLUDE" --files-from="$INPUTS" / "$BACKUP_DIR" >> "$HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log" 2>> "$HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log"
+   rsync -acrv -H -X -R --exclude-from="$EXCLUDE" --files-from="$INPUTS" / "$BACKUP_DIR" --ignore-missing-args >> "$HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log" 2>> "$HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log"
 else
-   rsync -acrv -H -X -R --link-dest="$LAST_BACKUP" --exclude-from="$EXCLUDE" --files-from="$INPUTS" / "$BACKUP_DIR" >> "$HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log" 2>> "$HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log"
+   rsync -acrv -H -X -R --link-dest="$LAST_BACKUP" --exclude-from="$EXCLUDE" --files-from="$INPUTS" / "$BACKUP_DIR" --ignore-missing-args >> "$HOME/.simple_backup/simple_backup.log" 2>> "$HOME/.simple_backup/errors.log"
 fi
 
 #Update the logs