diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala
index 54bc290b3787f..2c00878bb31ec 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProvider.scala
@@ -109,6 +109,20 @@ private[history] class FsHistoryProvider(conf: SparkConf, clock: Clock)
   private val logDirs = conf.get(History.HISTORY_LOG_DIR)
     .split(",").map(_.trim).filter(_.nonEmpty).toSeq
 
+  private val scanDisabledPathPatterns = conf.get(History.SCAN_DISABLED_PATH_PATTERNS)
+    .map(_.r)
+
+  /** Check if scanning is disabled for a directory by matching its path against patterns. */
+  private def isScanDisabled(dir: String): Boolean = {
+    if (scanDisabledPathPatterns.isEmpty) return false
+    val qualifiedPath = {
+      val path = new Path(dir)
+      val dirFs = logDirFs(dir)
+      path.makeQualified(dirFs.getUri, dirFs.getWorkingDirectory).toString
+    }
+    scanDisabledPathPatterns.exists(_.pattern.matcher(qualifiedPath).matches())
+  }
+
   private val historyUiAclsEnable = conf.get(History.HISTORY_SERVER_UI_ACLS_ENABLE)
   private val historyUiAdminAcls = conf.get(History.HISTORY_SERVER_UI_ADMIN_ACLS)
   private val historyUiAdminAclsGroups = conf.get(History.HISTORY_SERVER_UI_ADMIN_ACLS_GROUPS)
@@ -454,16 +468,35 @@ private[history] class FsHistoryProvider(conf: SparkConf, clock: Clock)
 
   private def loadFromFallbackLocation(appId: String, attemptId: Option[String], logPath: String)
     : ApplicationInfoWrapper = {
-    val date = new Date(0)
-    val lastUpdate = new Date()
-    val (logSourceName, logSourceFullPath) = getLogDirInfo(logPath)
-    val info = ApplicationAttemptInfo(
-      attemptId, date, date, lastUpdate, 0, "spark", false, "unknown",
-      Some(logSourceName), Some(logSourceFullPath))
-    addListing(new ApplicationInfoWrapper(
-      ApplicationInfo(appId, appId, None, None, None, None, List.empty),
-      List(new AttemptInfoWrapper(info, logPath, 0, Some(1), None, None, None, None,
-        logSourceName, logSourceFullPath))))
+    // Resolve the full path to find which directory actually contains this log.
+    // logPath is a relative name (e.g., "eventlog_v2_app1"), so we look up
+    // all directories to find the correct one.
+    val (dirFs, fullPath) = resolveLogPath(logPath, "")
+    val dir = logDirForPath(fullPath)
+
+    if (isScanDisabled(dir)) {
+      // For scan-disabled directories, run mergeApplicationListing to populate accurate
+      // metadata since periodic scanning will never update the dummy entry.
+      try {
+        EventLogFileReader(dirFs, dirFs.getFileStatus(fullPath)).foreach { reader =>
+          mergeApplicationListing(reader, clock.getTimeMillis(), enableOptimizations = true)
+        }
+      } catch {
+        case _: FileNotFoundException =>
+          throw new NoSuchElementException(s"Log not found for appId: $appId")
+      }
+    } else {
+      val date = new Date(0)
+      val lastUpdate = new Date()
+      val (logSourceName, logSourceFullPath) = getLogDirInfo(logPath)
+      val info = ApplicationAttemptInfo(
+        attemptId, date, date, lastUpdate, 0, "spark", false, "unknown",
+        Some(logSourceName), Some(logSourceFullPath))
+      addListing(new ApplicationInfoWrapper(
+        ApplicationInfo(appId, appId, None, None, None, None, List.empty),
+        List(new AttemptInfoWrapper(info, logPath, 0, Some(1), None, None, None, None,
+          logSourceName, logSourceFullPath))))
+    }
     load(appId)
   }
 
@@ -561,10 +594,17 @@ private[history] class FsHistoryProvider(conf: SparkConf, clock: Clock)
   private[history] def checkForLogs(): Unit = {
     val newLastScanTime = clock.getTimeMillis()
     val allNotStale = mutable.HashSet[String]()
+    val skippedDirs = mutable.ArrayBuffer[String]()
 
     logDirs.foreach { dir =>
       try {
-        checkForLogsInDir(dir, newLastScanTime, allNotStale)
+        if (isScanDisabled(dir)) {
+          logDebug(log"Skipping scan for directory ${MDC(HISTORY_DIR, dir)}" +
+            log" (scan disabled for this directory)")
+          skippedDirs += dir
+        } else {
+          checkForLogsInDir(dir, newLastScanTime, allNotStale)
+        }
       } catch {
         case e: IOException =>
           logError(log"Error checking for logs in directory ${MDC(HISTORY_DIR, dir)}", e)
@@ -574,6 +614,8 @@ private[history] class FsHistoryProvider(conf: SparkConf, clock: Clock)
     // Delete all information about applications whose log files disappeared from storage.
     // This is done after scanning ALL directories to avoid incorrectly marking entries from
     // other directories as stale.
+    // Entries from scan-disabled directories are excluded from stale detection because
+    // they are never scanned and their lastProcessed time is never updated.
     val stale = listing.synchronized {
       KVUtils.viewToSeq(listing.view(classOf[LogInfo])
         .index("lastProcessed")
@@ -581,6 +623,8 @@ private[history] class FsHistoryProvider(conf: SparkConf, clock: Clock)
     }
     stale.filterNot(isProcessing)
       .filterNot(info => allNotStale.contains(info.logPath))
+      .filterNot(info => skippedDirs.exists(dir =>
+        logDirForPath(new Path(info.logPath)) == dir))
       .foreach { log =>
         log.appId.foreach { appId =>
           cleanAppData(appId, log.attemptId, log.logPath)
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/History.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/History.scala
index e12f0b8eeaad0..90abc9d038db1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/History.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/History.scala
@@ -65,6 +65,21 @@ private[spark] object History {
     .checkValue(v => v > 0, "The update batchSize should be a positive integer.")
     .createWithDefault(Int.MaxValue)
 
+  val SCAN_DISABLED_PATH_PATTERNS =
+    ConfigBuilder("spark.history.fs.update.scanDisabledPathPatterns")
+      .doc("Comma-separated list of regular expressions matched against log directory " +
+        "paths. Directories whose full path matches any pattern will not be scanned " +
+        "periodically. Applications in these directories rely on on-demand loading " +
+        "instead of scanning and will not appear in the listing until accessed by appId. " +
+        "When accessed, accurate metadata is populated immediately. Logs that are never " +
+        "accessed are not subject to the cleaner; use external lifecycle management " +
+        "(e.g., S3 Lifecycle Policies) for those. " +
+        "Example: \"s3a://.*,gs://.*\" disables scanning for all S3 and GCS directories.")
+      .version("4.2.0")
+      .stringConf
+      .toSequence
+      .createWithDefault(Nil)
+
   val CLEANER_ENABLED = ConfigBuilder("spark.history.fs.cleaner.enabled")
     .version("1.4.0")
     .doc("Whether the History Server should periodically clean up event logs from storage")
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProviderSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProviderSuite.scala
index 7c76b50b07acb..9d3bd258956c5 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProviderSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/history/FsHistoryProviderSuite.scala
@@ -2381,6 +2381,168 @@ abstract class FsHistoryProviderSuite extends SparkFunSuite with Matchers with P
     }
   }
 
+  test("SPARK-56234: Skips scanning but on-demand loading still works") {
+    withTempDir { dir =>
+      val conf = createTestConf(true)
+      conf.set(HISTORY_LOG_DIR, dir.getAbsolutePath)
+      conf.set(SCAN_DISABLED_PATH_PATTERNS, Seq("file:.*"))
+      conf.set(EVENT_LOG_ROLLING_ON_DEMAND_LOAD_ENABLED, true)
+      val hadoopConf = SparkHadoopUtil.newConfiguration(conf)
+      val provider = new FsHistoryProvider(conf)
+
+      // Write a rolling event log
+      val writer = new RollingEventLogFilesWriter("app1", None, dir.toURI, conf, hadoopConf)
+      writer.start()
+      writeEventsToRollingWriter(writer, Seq(
+        SparkListenerApplicationStart("app1", Some("app1"), 0, "user", None),
+        SparkListenerJobStart(1, 0, Seq.empty)), rollFile = false)
+      writer.stop()
+
+      // Scan should skip this directory -- listing remains empty
+      provider.checkForLogs()
+      assert(provider.getListing().length === 0)
+
+      // On-demand loading should still work
+      assert(provider.getAppUI("app1", None).isDefined)
+      assert(provider.getListing().length === 1)
+
+      // Metadata should be accurate (not dummy) since mergeApplicationListing runs
+      // for scan-disabled directories
+      val appInfo = provider.getListing().next()
+      assert(appInfo.name === "app1")
+      assert(appInfo.attempts.head.appSparkVersion !== "unknown")
+
+      // Subsequent scan should NOT remove the on-demand loaded app (stale protection)
+      provider.checkForLogs()
+      assert(provider.getListing().length === 1)
+
+      provider.stop()
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-56234: Scan disabled schemes do not affect directories with non-matching schemes") {
+    withTempDir { dir =>
+      val conf = createTestConf(true)
+      conf.set(HISTORY_LOG_DIR, dir.getAbsolutePath)
+      // Disable scanning for s3a/gs -- should not affect local file:// directories
+      conf.set(SCAN_DISABLED_PATH_PATTERNS, Seq("s3a://.*", "gs://.*"))
+      val provider = new FsHistoryProvider(conf)
+      val hadoopConf = SparkHadoopUtil.newConfiguration(conf)
+
+      val writer = new RollingEventLogFilesWriter("app1", None, dir.toURI, conf, hadoopConf)
+      writer.start()
+      writeEventsToRollingWriter(writer, Seq(
+        SparkListenerApplicationStart("app1", Some("app1"), 0, "user", None),
+        SparkListenerJobStart(1, 0, Seq.empty)), rollFile = false)
+      writer.stop()
+
+      // file:// scheme is not disabled, so scanning should work normally
+      provider.checkForLogs()
+      assert(provider.getListing().length === 1)
+
+      provider.stop()
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-56234: Scan disabled with empty config does not disable any scheme") {
+    withTempDir { dir =>
+      val conf = createTestConf(true)
+      conf.set(HISTORY_LOG_DIR, dir.getAbsolutePath)
+      conf.set(SCAN_DISABLED_PATH_PATTERNS, Seq.empty[String])
+      val provider = new FsHistoryProvider(conf)
+      val hadoopConf = SparkHadoopUtil.newConfiguration(conf)
+
+      val writer = new RollingEventLogFilesWriter("app1", None, dir.toURI, conf, hadoopConf)
+      writer.start()
+      writeEventsToRollingWriter(writer, Seq(
+        SparkListenerApplicationStart("app1", Some("app1"), 0, "user", None),
+        SparkListenerJobStart(1, 0, Seq.empty)), rollFile = false)
+      writer.stop()
+
+      provider.checkForLogs()
+      assert(provider.getListing().length === 1)
+
+      provider.stop()
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-56234: On-demand loading populates accurate metadata via mergeApplicationListing") {
+    withTempDir { dir =>
+      val conf = createTestConf(true)
+      conf.set(HISTORY_LOG_DIR, dir.getAbsolutePath)
+      conf.set(SCAN_DISABLED_PATH_PATTERNS, Seq("file:.*"))
+      conf.set(EVENT_LOG_ROLLING_ON_DEMAND_LOAD_ENABLED, true)
+      val hadoopConf = SparkHadoopUtil.newConfiguration(conf)
+      val provider = new FsHistoryProvider(conf)
+
+      val writer = new RollingEventLogFilesWriter("app1", None, dir.toURI, conf, hadoopConf)
+      writer.start()
+      writeEventsToRollingWriter(writer, Seq(
+        SparkListenerApplicationStart("app1", Some("app1"), 1000, "testuser", None),
+        SparkListenerJobStart(1, 0, Seq.empty),
+        SparkListenerApplicationEnd(5000)), rollFile = false)
+      writer.stop()
+
+      // On-demand load without prior scan
+      assert(provider.getAppUI("app1", None).isDefined)
+
+      // Listing should have accurate metadata from mergeApplicationListing,
+      // not dummy values (sparkVersion="unknown", sparkUser="spark", etc.)
+      val appInfo = provider.getListing().next()
+      assert(appInfo.name === "app1")
+      assert(appInfo.attempts.head.appSparkVersion !== "unknown")
+      assert(appInfo.attempts.head.sparkUser === "testuser")
+      assert(appInfo.attempts.head.completed)
+      assert(appInfo.attempts.head.duration > 0)
+
+      provider.stop()
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-56234: Scan disabled by path pattern skips matching directories") {
+    val dir2 = Utils.createTempDir(namePrefix = "logDir2")
+    try {
+      val conf = createTestConf(true)
+      conf.set(HISTORY_LOG_DIR, s"${testDir.getAbsolutePath},${dir2.getAbsolutePath}")
+      conf.set(SCAN_DISABLED_PATH_PATTERNS, Seq(s".*${dir2.getName}"))
+      conf.set(EVENT_LOG_ROLLING_ON_DEMAND_LOAD_ENABLED, true)
+      val hadoopConf = SparkHadoopUtil.newConfiguration(conf)
+      val provider = new FsHistoryProvider(conf)
+
+      // Write app in active dir (scan enabled)
+      val writer1 = new RollingEventLogFilesWriter(
+        "app1", None, testDir.toURI, conf, hadoopConf)
+      writer1.start()
+      writeEventsToRollingWriter(writer1, Seq(
+        SparkListenerApplicationStart("app1", Some("app1"), 0, "user", None),
+        SparkListenerJobStart(1, 0, Seq.empty)), rollFile = false)
+      writer1.stop()
+
+      // Write app in archive dir (scan disabled)
+      val writer2 = new RollingEventLogFilesWriter(
+        "app2", None, dir2.toURI, conf, hadoopConf)
+      writer2.start()
+      writeEventsToRollingWriter(writer2, Seq(
+        SparkListenerApplicationStart("app2", Some("app2"), 0, "user", None),
+        SparkListenerJobStart(2, 0, Seq.empty)), rollFile = false)
+      writer2.stop()
+
+      // Only app1 should be discovered by scan
+      provider.checkForLogs()
+      val listing = provider.getListing().toSeq
+      assert(listing.size === 1)
+      assert(listing.head.id === "app1")
+
+      // app2 should be loadable on demand
+      assert(provider.getAppUI("app2", None).isDefined)
+      assert(provider.getListing().toSeq.size === 2)
+
+      provider.stop()
+    } finally {
+      Utils.deleteRecursively(dir2)
+    }
+  }
+
   private class SafeModeTestProvider(conf: SparkConf, clock: Clock)
     extends FsHistoryProvider(conf, clock) {
 
diff --git a/docs/monitoring.md b/docs/monitoring.md
index bd9a8b134dc3f..4f90cbb5645c5 100644
--- a/docs/monitoring.md
+++ b/docs/monitoring.md
@@ -207,6 +207,21 @@ Security options for the Spark History Server are covered more detail in the
     </td>
     <td>1.4.0</td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>spark.history.fs.update.scanDisabledPathPatterns</td>
+    <td>(none)</td>
+    <td>
+      Comma-separated list of regular expressions matched against log directory paths.
+      Directories whose full path matches any pattern will not be scanned periodically
+      (e.g., <code>s3a://.*,gs://.*</code> disables scanning for all S3 and GCS directories).
+      Applications in these directories rely on on-demand loading instead of scanning and
+      will not appear in the listing until accessed by appId. When accessed, accurate metadata
+      is populated immediately. Logs that are never accessed are not subject to the cleaner;
+      use external lifecycle management (e.g., S3 Lifecycle Policies, GCS Object Lifecycle
+      Management) for those.
+    </td>
+    <td>4.2.0</td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
     <td>spark.history.retainedApplications</td>
     <td>50</td>
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/resources/conf/binding-policy-exceptions/configs-without-binding-policy-exceptions b/sql/hive/src/test/resources/conf/binding-policy-exceptions/configs-without-binding-policy-exceptions
index f20b592daf5aa..556e2befc5b66 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/resources/conf/binding-policy-exceptions/configs-without-binding-policy-exceptions
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/resources/conf/binding-policy-exceptions/configs-without-binding-policy-exceptions
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ spark.history.fs.numReplayThreads
 spark.history.fs.safemodeCheck.interval
 spark.history.fs.update.batchSize
 spark.history.fs.update.interval
+spark.history.fs.update.scanDisabledPathPatterns
 spark.history.kerberos.enabled
 spark.history.kerberos.keytab
 spark.history.kerberos.principal