Cloud backup of a single file located in a tree of folders

Hello,
when I select a single (but important) file for cloud backup and this file is located inside the tree of folders, then after the backup completes, all of the content of respective folder tree structure (all the way down from the top folder, including folders not on direct path to the file I’ve selected) is getting backed up instead of just this one file. So, instead of backing up only like e.g. 1KB, you end up backing up e.g. 10GB of files and folders on the way - which is not only the waste of backup space, but also the waste of backup time and network bandwidth and computer resources.
If I had wanted to back up all the folders and their contents, I would have just selected the top folder for backup
How can this nonsense be stopped without making thousands of files/folder exclusions?

Norton 360 for Windows version 25.1.9816 (on Windows 10).

Thank you,
Mike

care to try with Automatically sync disabled?
fwiw ~ as test:

735

Caveat: I run Cloud backups/Local backups with Automatically sync disabled