File Manager

Opening the file manager

With a connection tab open, switch to the Files view using the tab bar or press Ctrl+Shift+F. You'll land in your remote home directory. The toolbar shows the current path, which you can click to edit directly and navigate to any absolute path.

Browsing and navigation

• Open folder — Double-click, or press Enter on a selected directory.
• Go up — Click the ↑ button or press Backspace.
• Back / Forward — Toolbar arrows navigate your path history within the session.
• Edit path — Click the path breadcrumb to type a destination directly (supports ~ expansion).
• Toggle view — Switch between grid (icon) and list (detail) view using the toolbar toggle.
• Hidden files — Toggle via Settings → File Manager → Show hidden files. Files starting with . are hidden by default.

File operations

Right-click any file or folder to access the context menu. Available actions:

• Open / Edit — Text and code files open in Zync's built-in CodeMirror editor. Changes are saved back over SFTP on Ctrl+S / ⌘S. Language is auto-detected from the file extension.
• Download — Save the file to your local machine. Files go to your configured download directory (Settings → File Manager).
• Download as Archive (.tar.gz) — Bundle selected files and directories into a single .tar.gz archive streamed over SSH. Available for remote connections only.
• Rename — Rename the file or folder in-place.
• Delete — Moves to the remote trash or permanently deletes, depending on server support. A confirmation prompt appears unless disabled in Settings.
• New file / New folder — Create a new empty file or directory at the current path.
• Copy to server — Copy files from this connection to another (see below).
• Properties — View file size, permissions, owner, group, and last modified time.

Drag and drop

Drag files from your local machine (desktop, Finder, Explorer) directly into the file manager window to upload them to the current remote path. Multiple files can be dropped at once — each appears in the transfer indicator. Zync uses native OS-level drag-drop events for reliable cross-platform behavior on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

You can also drag files between connections to copy them server-to-server, or drag within the same connection to move files between directories.

Download as archive

Select one or more remote files and directories, then right-click → Download as Archive (.tar.gz) or use the archive button in the toolbar. Zync streams a tar -czf command directly over SSH — no temporary files are created on the server. This is ideal for downloading entire directory trees or batches of files in a single operation.

• Works with mixed selections (files and directories at any depth)
• Progress is reported in real time via the status bar indicator
• Cancel anytime from the transfer panel
• Requires tar to be available on the remote server (present on virtually all Linux/macOS systems)

Transfer indicator

All uploads, downloads, and cross-server copies are tracked via a circular progress indicator in the status bar — similar to GNOME Nautilus and macOS Finder. The indicator shows:

• Pie chart progress — fills as the transfer progresses
• Checkmark icon — appears when all transfers complete
• Count badge — shows the number of simultaneous active transfers
• Tooltips — briefly appear when transfers start or finish

Click the indicator to expand a dropdown panel with full transfer details: file names, source/destination, progress bars, transfer speed, and cancel buttons. The panel auto-opens when a new transfer begins and can be dismissed by clicking outside or pressing Escape.

Completed and failed transfers auto-clear after 5 seconds. Failed transfers display the error message in the panel.

Copy to server

Copy files directly from one remote connection to another without downloading locally first. Right-click the file → Copy to server, then choose a destination connection and path. Zync streams data between the two SSH sessions. This is ideal for moving files between staging and production.

Keyboard shortcuts

Settings

All file manager preferences are in Settings → File Manager:

• Show hidden files — Toggle dotfiles visibility. Off by default.
• Confirm before delete — Show a confirmation dialog before deleting files. Recommended to keep enabled.
• Default download directory — Where downloaded files are saved on your local machine.

Troubleshooting

• Can't open file manager — SFTP must be enabled on the server. Check that the sftp subsystem is configured in /etc/ssh/sshd_config: Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server.
• Permission denied on upload — The remote user doesn't have write permission on the target directory. Check ownership with ls -la and adjust with chmod / chown as needed.
• Large file upload fails midway — This can happen on unstable connections. Re-upload the file; Zync streams in 4 MB chunks but doesn't resume partial transfers. For very large files consider using rsync via the terminal instead.
• Editor shows binary content — Zync's editor is for text files. Opening a binary file will show garbage. Close the editor and use the terminal to inspect binary files.
• Symlinks show as files — Zync resolves symlinks on the server. The link target's type (file or directory) is shown, not the link itself.