Command reference
Every menu command, grouped by top-level menu. Submenu paths are named in the description.
- Shortcuts are the defaults. Change them in Settings › Shortcuts (chapter 3).
- A dash means the command has no default shortcut.
- “Local” means the command needs a local folder or local items in the active pane.
- A command that can’t run is grayed out. Hold the pointer over it to see why.
FileTerm
Section titled “FileTerm”| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| About FileTerm | — | Shows the version and build. | Ch 11 |
| Check for Updates… | — | Looks up the latest release and offers its download page. Installs nothing. | Ch 11 |
| Settings… | ⌘, | Opens the settings window. | Ch 11 |
| Empty Trash… | — | Asks first, then has Finder empty the Trash on every volume. Can’t be undone. | Ch 9 |
| Hide FileTerm | ⌘H | Hides the app. | Ch 11 |
| Quit FileTerm | ⌘Q | Saves the window state and quits. Refuses while transfers are active. | Ch 2 |
| Quit and Keep Windows | ⌥⌘Q | Quits and restores the windows at the next launch, even with restoration off. | Ch 2 |
| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close Window | ⇧⌘W | Closes the frontmost window. | Ch 2 |
| Eject | — | Ejects the volume selected in the sidebar’s Devices section. | Ch 1 |
| New FileTerm Window | ⌘N | Opens a new window at the Starting Directory. | Ch 2 |
| New Tab | ⌘T | Opens a tab at the same folder in the active pane, with the default view settings. | Ch 2 |
| Close Tab | ⌘W | Closes the current tab. The last tab closes the window. In another window, such as a dialog window, it closes that window. | Ch 2 |
| Close Other Tabs | — | Closes every other tab in the active pane. | Ch 2 |
| Find… | ⌘F | Puts the cursor in the toolbar’s search field. | Ch 3 |
| Close Search | ⌥⌘F | Closes the results and returns to the folder. | Ch 3 |
| New Folder | ⇧⌘N | Creates a folder and starts renaming it. Also works on connections. | Ch 4 |
| New Folder With Selection | ⌃⌘N | Moves the selected items into a new folder. Local. | Ch 4 |
| New File | ⌥⇧⌘N | Creates an empty file and starts renaming it. Local. | Ch 4 |
| Open | ⌘O | Opens the selected items. On a connection, downloads a temporary copy first. | Ch 4 |
| Open With apps | — | File › Open With: one entry per app that can open every selected item, plus Other…. | Ch 4 |
| iCloud Download Now and Remove Download | — | File › iCloud: downloads items, or removes the copy on this Mac. The file stays in iCloud. | Ch 12 |
| Copy Dropbox Link | — | Copies a shared link for one item in a Dropbox folder. Needs a token. | Ch 12 |
| Open in Terminal | — | Opens the active local folder in the external terminal app from Settings › General. | Ch 10 |
| Show Package Contents | — | Browses inside a selected package as a folder. | Ch 4 |
| Get Info | ⌘I | Opens an inspector window for each selected local item. | Ch 5 |
| Open in New Tab | — | Opens each selected folder in a new tab. | Ch 4 |
| Open in New Window | — | Opens each selected folder in a new window. | Ch 4 |
| Reveal in Finder | — | Shows the selected local items in Finder, or the current folder when nothing is selected. | Ch 4 |
| Tags | — | File › Tags: turns a tag on or off for the selected local items. | Ch 4 |
| Share… | — | Opens the macOS share picker for selected local items. | Ch 11 |
| Tags… | — | Opens the inspector, where tags can be edited. Local. | Ch 5 |
| Quick Look | ⌘Y | Opens Quick Look for the selected local items, or the current folder when nothing is selected. | Ch 5 |
| Slideshow | — | Plays the selected images. Needs at least one local image. | Ch 5 |
| Print… | ⌘P | Prints one selected local image, PDF or text file. | Ch 5 |
| Copy Path formats | — | File › Copy Path: copies paths as UNIX, URL, Percent-Decoded URL, Name, Terminal or Windows, for the selected local items or the current folder. Local. | Ch 5 |
| Make Alias | — | Creates a Finder alias next to each selected item. | Ch 5 |
| Make Alias to | — | Creates a Finder alias in the other pane’s folder. | Ch 5 |
| Make Symlink | — | Creates a symbolic link next to each selected item. | Ch 5 |
| Make Symlink to | — | Creates a symbolic link in the other pane’s folder. | Ch 5 |
| Copy URL | — | Copies the public web address of items on a connection that has a Base URL. | Ch 5 |
| Open URL | — | Opens that public web address in your browser. | Ch 5 |
| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut, Copy and Paste | ⌘X, ⌘C, ⌘V | Copy puts selected files on the clipboard, and Paste copies them into the active pane. Cut works only on text. In text fields and the terminal, these act on text. | Ch 4 |
| Select All | ⌘A | Selects everything in the active pane, or all text in a text field or the terminal. | Ch 3 |
| Deselect All | ⇧⌘A | Clears the selection. | Ch 3 |
| Invert Selection | ⇧⌘I | Swaps selected and unselected items. | Ch 3 |
| Quick Select… | ⌘S | Selects items by name, extension or tag. | Ch 3 |
| Move Items Here | ⌥⌘V | Moves items on the clipboard into the active pane’s folder, after a confirmation. | Ch 4 |
| Undo | ⌘Z | Undoes the last local file operation, or the last text edit in a text field. | Ch 4 |
| Redo | ⇧⌘Z | Redoes what Undo reversed. | Ch 4 |
| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show/Hide Preview | — | Shows or hides the Preview panel. | Ch 5 |
| Show/Hide Activities | — | Shows or hides the Activities panel. | Ch 7 |
| Show/Hide Logs | — | Shows or hides the Logs panel. | Ch 7 |
| Show Two Panes | — | Switches between one pane and the last two-pane layout. | Ch 1 |
| Swap Panes | — | Exchanges the two panes, including their tabs. Needs two panes. | Ch 1 |
| Clone Pane | — | Opens the active pane’s folder in the other pane. | Ch 1 |
| Single Pane | — | Shows only the active pane. | Ch 1 |
| Vertical — Side by Side | — | Shows two panes left and right. | Ch 1 |
| Horizontal — Stacked | — | Shows two panes top and bottom. | Ch 1 |
| Show Path Bar | — | Shows or hides the path bar. | Ch 1 |
| Show Title Bar | — | Shows or hides the title bar. | Ch 2 |
| Show Toolbar | — | Shows or hides the toolbar, which also holds the search field. | Ch 2 |
| Show Devices | — | Shows or hides the sidebar’s Devices section. | Ch 1 |
| Show Device Info | — | Shows or hides free space and capacity under each device. | Ch 1 |
| Show Sidebar | — | Shows or hides the sidebar. | Ch 2 |
| Show Tab Bar | — | Shows or hides each pane’s tab bar. | Ch 2 |
| Show Recent Folders | — | Shows or hides the sidebar’s Recent Folders section. | Ch 1 |
| Show Favorites | — | Shows or hides the sidebar’s Favorites section. | Ch 10 |
| Show Tags | — | Shows or hides the sidebar’s Tags section. | Ch 11 |
| Show Workspaces | — | Shows or hides the sidebar’s Workspaces section. | Ch 12 |
| Show iCloud Drive | — | Shows or hides the sidebar’s iCloud section. | Ch 12 |
| as Icons | — | Shows the active tab as an icon grid. | Ch 2 |
| as List | — | Shows the active tab as a list with columns. | Ch 2 |
| as Columns | — | Shows the active tab as hierarchy columns. | Ch 2 |
| Sort fields | — | View › Sort by: sorts by Name, Kind, Date Added, Date Modified, Date Last Opened, Date Created, Size, Tags, Owner, Group or Permissions. | Ch 2 |
| Descending Order | — | View › Sort by: reverses the sort. Folders stay first. | Ch 2 |
| Group fields | — | View › Group by: groups by None, Kind, Date Added, Date Modified, Date Last Opened, Date Created, Size or Tags. | Ch 2 |
| Show View Options | — | Opens the View Options dialog, including the icon size label. | Ch 2 |
| Customize Toolbar… | — | Adds, removes and reorders toolbar commands. | Ch 2 |
| Show Sidebar Editor | — | Turns sidebar sections on or off and reorders them. | Ch 2 |
| Save View Settings as Defaults | — | Makes the current view settings the defaults for new tabs and folders without saved settings. | Ch 2 |
| Restore Default View Settings | — | Applies the saved defaults to the current scope. | Ch 2 |
| Show Hidden Items | ⇧⌘. | Shows or hides hidden items in every pane. | Ch 3 |
| Refresh | ⌘R | Reloads the tabs in the current window. | Ch 3 |
| Auto-Refresh | — | Watches open local folders and reloads them when they change. | Ch 3 |
| Show Terminal | ⌃` |
Shows or hides the built-in terminal. Hiding keeps its sessions. | Ch 10 |
| Focus Terminal / Pane | ⌃⌥` |
View › Terminal: moves focus between the pane and the terminal. | Ch 10 |
| Link Terminal to Pane | — | View › Terminal: turns following the pane’s folder on or off. | Ch 10 |
| Follow Terminal Directory | — | View › Terminal: turns moving the pane when the shell changes folder on or off. | Ch 10 |
| Sync Terminal Now | — | View › Terminal: moves the shell to the pane’s folder when it’s idle. | Ch 10 |
| Reveal Terminal Directory in Pane | — | View › Terminal: opens the shell’s folder in the pane. | Ch 10 |
| Insert Selected Paths in Terminal | — | View › Terminal: types the selected local paths, quoted, without running them. | Ch 10 |
| Open SSH Session for Connected Host | — | View › Terminal: types an ssh command for an SFTP pane’s host and folder, when the shell is idle. |
Ch 10 |
| Clear Terminal | — | View › Terminal: clears the current session. | Ch 10 |
| Find in Terminal… | — | View › Terminal: searches the terminal’s text. | Ch 10 |
| Toggle Terminal Dock | — | View › Terminal: moves the panel between below and right of the panes. | Ch 10 |
| Close Terminal Sessions | — | View › Terminal: hides the panel and ends its sessions. | Ch 10 |
| Follow Active Pane | — | View › Terminal: shows the session for the active pane’s tab. | Ch 10 |
| Follow Left / Top Pane | — | View › Terminal: shows the session for the first pane’s tab. | Ch 10 |
| Follow Right / Bottom Pane | — | View › Terminal: shows the session for the second pane’s tab. | Ch 10 |
| Text Encoding choices | — | View › Text Encoding: reads names on the active FTP, FTP-TLS or SFTP connection as UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252, Shift_JIS, EUC-KR or GB18030. | Ch 6 |
| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back | — | Goes to the previous folder in this tab’s history. | Ch 1 |
| Forward | — | Goes to the next folder in this tab’s history. | Ch 1 |
| Enclosing Folder | — | Goes up one level. | Ch 1 |
| Go to Folder… | — | Opens a local folder by absolute path, with history and Tab completion. | Ch 1 |
| Sync Browsing | — | Mirrors entering a folder and going up in the other pane. Needs two panes. | Ch 1 |
| Connect… | — | Opens the connection form. | Ch 6 |
| Manage Favorites… | — | Opens the Favorites manager. | Ch 10 |
| Documents | — | Opens your Documents folder in the active pane. | Ch 1 |
| Desktop | — | Opens your Desktop folder. | Ch 1 |
| Downloads | — | Opens your Downloads folder. | Ch 1 |
| Home | — | Opens your home folder. | Ch 1 |
| Library | — | Opens your user Library folder. | Ch 1 |
| Applications | — | Opens the system Applications folder. | Ch 1 |
| Utilities | — | Opens the Utilities folder inside Applications. | Ch 1 |
| Quick Open… | ⎋ | Opens the search for commands, folders, recents, favorites and rename presets. | Ch 3 |
| Recent folders | — | Go › Recent Folders: opens one of the last 20 local folders you visited. | Ch 1 |
| Favorites | — | Go › Favorites: opens a saved favorite. A connection favorite connects first if needed. | Ch 10 |
| Save Workspace… | — | Go › Workspaces: saves the open windows under a name. | Ch 12 |
Commands
Section titled “Commands”| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sync to… | — | Opens the Sync dialog for the two panes. Changes nothing until you click Synchronize. | Ch 8 |
| Manage Tools… | — | Opens Settings › Tools. | Ch 10 |
| Source Control commands | — | Commands › Source Control: Add, Add All, Commit…, Push and Pull. Local, in a Git repository. | Ch 10 |
| Edit | — | Opens one file in the editor mapped to its extension. On a connection, uploads your saves after you confirm. | Ch 10 |
| Copy to… | — | Copies the selection to the other pane’s folder. | Ch 4 |
| Copy to as… | — | Copies one item to the other pane’s folder under a new name. | Ch 4 |
| Move to… | — | Moves the selection to the other pane’s folder. | Ch 4 |
| Duplicate | ⌘D | Makes a copy in the same folder under a new name. Local. | Ch 4 |
| Rename | — | Renames one item in place, or opens Batch Rename for several. | Ch 4 |
| Compress | — | Makes a zip of the selection in the same folder. Local. | Ch 9 |
| Compress With Options… | — | Asks for the format, name and destination first. Local. | Ch 9 |
| Extract | — | Unpacks selected archives next to them. Local. | Ch 9 |
| Extract to… | — | Asks for the destination first. Local. | Ch 9 |
| Move to Trash | ⌘⌫ | Moves local items to the Trash. On a connection it’s named Delete… and deletes permanently after a confirmation. | Ch 9 |
| Compare | — | Opens two local files in the external compare tool. | Ch 9 |
| Delete App and Related Files… | — | Lists a selected app’s related files, then moves the app and ticked files to the Trash. | Ch 9 |
| Delete… | ⌥⌘⌫ | Permanently deletes the selection after a confirmation. Can’t be undone. On a connection the menu lists only the ⌘⌫ Delete…, and ⌥⌘⌫ still works. | Ch 9 |
| Calculate Checksum… | — | Calculates MD5, SHA-1 or SHA-256 for one local file. | Ch 5 |
| Calculate All Folder Sizes | — | Works out the size of each local folder in the listing. | Ch 5 |
| Your tools | — | Commands › Tools: runs a tool you defined in Settings › Tools. | Ch 10 |
Window
Section titled “Window”| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimize | ⌘M | Minimizes the frontmost window. | Ch 2 |
| Zoom | — | Zooms the frontmost window. | Ch 2 |
| Pin View | — | Pins or unpins the current tab. Navigating away from a pinned tab opens a new tab. | Ch 2 |
| Move Tab to Other Pane | — | Moves the current tab to the opposite pane and makes that pane active. | Ch 2 |
| Bring All to Front | — | Brings all FileTerm windows forward. | Ch 2 |
| Previous Tab | ⇧⌘[ | Selects the previous tab in the active pane, wrapping around. | Ch 2 |
| Next Tab | ⇧⌘] | Selects the next tab in the active pane, wrapping around. | Ch 2 |
| Select Tab 1 to 5 | ⌘1 to ⌘5 | Selects that tab in the active pane. | Ch 2 |
Commands that appear as you add items
Section titled “Commands that appear as you add items”These entries are generated when you have connections, workspaces or sync favorites. They aren’t in the tables above.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does | Guide chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open connections | — | Go › Connections: reveals an open connection in a pane. | Ch 6 |
| Saved connections | — | Go › Connections: connects and opens a saved connection. | Ch 6 |
| Edit Saved Connection | — | Go › Connections › Edit Saved Connection: opens the form for that connection. | Ch 6 |
| Disconnect | — | Go › Connections › Disconnect: closes that connection. | Ch 6 |
| Saved workspaces | — | Go › Workspaces: loads that workspace and closes the open windows. | Ch 12 |
| Sync favorites | — | Commands › Sync Favorites: shows both folders and opens the Sync dialog with its analysis. | Ch 8 |