Browsing & Transfers
Once a connection is live, its tab shows the file browser. Top to bottom, a browser tab is a toolbar, a breadcrumb path bar, the file table, a docked transfer queue (only when transfers exist), and a status bar.
The file table
Section titled “The file table”Five columns, each individually resizable by dragging the divider between headers:
| Column | Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | Entry name with a type icon (folder, image, code, archive, …). This is the flexible column that takes the remaining width. |
| Size | Human-readable byte size; a dash (—) for folders. |
| Modified | Last-modified date and time (2026-04-03 10:12), when the backend reports one; a dash otherwise. |
| Kind | Resolved file kind (Folder, YAML, PNG image, …). |
| Permissions | Unix mode string like drwxr-xr-x, when the backend provides it. |
Click a header to sort by that column; click again to reverse. The first four columns sort; Permissions is display-only. Double-click a folder to enter it; double-click a file to open it for editing (see below).
List vs Tree
Section titled “List vs Tree”The toggle on the right of the toolbar switches between a flat List of the current directory and an expandable Tree that nests subfolders inline.
Navigating
Section titled “Navigating”- Breadcrumb bar — the path renders as
protocol://user@host › segment › segment. Click any segment to jump to that folder; click theprotocol://user@hostprefix to go to the root. - Back / Forward (
‹›) — move through your navigation history. - Up (
↑) — go to the parent directory. - Refresh (
⟳) — re-list the current directory from the server.
File operations
Section titled “File operations”Reach these from the toolbar, or by right-clicking one or more selected entries:
- New folder — the folder-plus toolbar button prompts for a name and creates it in the current directory.
- Rename — rename or move a single entry.
- Download — enqueue the selected entries for download. Also the toolbar's down-arrow button (enabled when something is selected).
- Change permissions (chmod) — a 3×3 grid of read / write / execute checkboxes for owner, group, and other. A live octal chip (e.g.
644) updates as you toggle, and Apply writes the mode. (Not applicable to S3.) - Info — a macOS "Get Info"-style panel with a type-icon header and grouped General (kind, size, modified, path, symlink target) and Permissions (mode, owner) sections.
- Delete — a confirmation dialog, then removal. On S3 and WebDAV, deleting a folder removes everything in it; on SFTP and FTP/FTPS the folder must be empty first, or the delete fails.
Edit in place
Section titled “Edit in place”Right-click a file and choose Open (or double-click it) to edit it with your local editor. Probe downloads a working copy, opens it, watches the file, and re-uploads automatically whenever you save — Cyberduck's edit-in-place workflow. Bursts of saves are debounced into a single upload.
Transfers
Section titled “Transfers”Uploads and downloads run through a docked transfer queue that appears below the file table whenever transfers exist and reclaims the space when the queue is empty.
Each row shows a direction icon (down for download, up for upload), the file name, a progress bar, and a status line:
- Running —
4.2 MB / 9.0 MB · 1.1 MB/s, i.e. bytes done, total, and current speed. - Queued, Paused, Done, Cancelled, or Failed (with the error) for the other states.
Per-row controls:
- Pause / Resume — for transfers whose backend supports resuming from a byte offset.
- Cancel — stop an active transfer.
The queue header shows how many transfers are active and a Clear completed action to tidy finished rows.
Uploading
Section titled “Uploading”Use the toolbar's up-arrow button to pick a local file, or drag files from Finder / Explorer onto the browser to upload them into the current directory.
Status bar
Section titled “Status bar”The bottom bar summarises the current view: item count, folder count, the protocol (or the server-reported label), and the current path — followed by a green lock badge reading Encrypted when the transport is secure (SFTP, FTPS, S3 over HTTPS, WebDAV over HTTPS).