Skip to main content

Using the Desktop App

After installing the Desktop App, connect it to your Files.com site and choose which accounts and Workspaces to use. Your site settings and permissions control access; the app keeps a session between uses and can start automatically when you log in to your computer.

The Desktop App overview explains when to use Mounted Drive, Turbo Transfer, or Sync Mode.

Account Access and Connectivity

To use the Desktop App, the site's Desktop App Enabled setting must be on, and your account must have Web, Desktop App, and API access. Users must also have the appropriate folder-level permissions for the action being performed. Missing or insufficient folder permissions can prevent uploads or downloads even when the app is connected. If access is restricted, contact your Files.com Site Administrator to review the site's app setting, your protocol access, or your folder permission assignments.

On Windows Server hosts running Remote Desktop Services, Windows 10/11 machines using Fast User Switching, and shared kiosk machines, multiple users can each run their own Desktop App session. See Multiple Concurrent Users (Windows Only) for details.

The Desktop App communicates outbound over HTTPS on port 443 and operates behind most corporate firewalls.

Transferring files with an On-Premise Agent that has Direct Transfers enabled is the one case where the Desktop App connects beyond port 443, and it only needs a firewall change on networks that restrict outbound traffic. Allow outbound TCP and UDP connections from the Desktop App to the Agent's direct transfer ports, which default to 4001 through 4010. When that traffic stays blocked, transfers simply continue over the standard connection route.

Proxy Selection

On Windows and macOS, the Desktop App takes its proxy configuration from the operating system and environment. This lets it use the network configuration maintained for the computer without a separate proxy setting in the app. When reviewing which route the app uses to reach Files.com, account for automatic discovery as well as manually configured proxies.

A Proxy Auto-Configuration (PAC) file supplies rules for choosing a proxy based on the destination URL. The app first uses the PAC URL configured in the operating system. If none is configured, or that file cannot be fetched, the app uses Web Proxy Auto-Discovery (WPAD) to look for a PAC file at wpad in the computer's DNS domain. This lookup occurs whether or not automatic proxy detection is enabled in the operating system.

When the PAC file selects a proxy for Files.com, that choice takes precedence over a manually configured proxy. If no PAC file is found, or its answer is DIRECT, the app checks the operating system's manual proxy settings, including the Windows bypass list. If no manual proxy is configured, it checks the HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and NO_PROXY environment variables. NO_PROXY identifies destinations to exclude from the environment's proxy configuration. When none of these sources supplies an applicable proxy, the app connects directly. A PAC answer of DIRECT therefore does not by itself guarantee a direct connection.

Connections to Files.com remain HTTPS through a proxy, and the app verifies the server's certificate just as it does on a direct connection.

Authentication

When you connect to your site using the Desktop App, log in as you would in the Files.com web app, including your 2FA method. The Desktop App also supports SSO, authenticating through your organization's Single Sign-On provider.

Site Administrators control Desktop App Enabled under Clients & Protocols → Desktop App → Settings in the web app. Turning it off signs out every Desktop App user on the site, including administrators, and blocks new Desktop App sign-ins. Browser sign-in remains available, including SSO. If the setting is enabled again, you must sign in again; your previous app session is not restored.

After login, the app receives and stores a dedicated API key that acts as a long-lived session token. This keeps the app connected between uses so you can return to your files without repeatedly signing in. The token is issued even when Allow Users To Create API Keys is disabled, because that setting controls credentials for users' own integrations. The token's expiration follows the site's Desktop App Session Lifetime. It appears in API responses that list your API keys, but not in the web interface's API key list.

If you experience issues with login or 2FA, enable Use default browser for authentication under Preferences on macOS or Settings on Windows. This option can also be used when compliance or IT policies require authentication through a specific system browser.

Current Desktop v6 releases support sign-in when the browser and app use different outbound IP addresses, such as when they use different corporate proxies. Desktop v4 and older v6 releases required matching addresses during sign-in. Update an older installation before troubleshooting that legacy requirement.

Desktop session IP pinning is a separate control over an established app session. When enabled, it requires a new login if the app's IP address changes. In environments where addresses change frequently, a Site Administrator can choose Do not require users to log in again if their IP address changes. The Desktop App Session Lifetime independently determines how long the session lasts.

You can connect to multiple Files.com accounts or manage profiles by opening the app menu and selecting New Tab or Manage Files.com Connections.

If you have access to multiple Workspaces, use the workspace picker in the app to switch between them. Switching workspaces remounts the drive. The app asks you to confirm before proceeding, then remounts the drive for the selected workspace.

While a file transfer is in progress, the workspace picker is disabled. It re-enables once no transfer is active.

The workspace selection does not persist across restarts. Each launch mounts your default workspace, and you can switch to another workspace from the picker after launch.

If you have permissions to a Child Site, you can connect to it when you log in.

Expired Credentials

If credentials expire on your account, sign in to that account again in the Files.com Desktop App before reconnecting. In Turbo Transfer Mode, any in-progress transfers pause until you sign in, then resume from where they stopped.

Credentials expire in these situations:

  • Your site has Desktop Session IP Pinning enabled, and your IP address changed while you were signed in to the Desktop App.
  • Your session reached the Desktop App Session Lifetime that your Site Administrator set for the site.
  • You or a Site Administrator revoked the Desktop App connection from the Active Desktop Connections list in the Web App.
  • A Site Administrator turned off Desktop App Enabled for the site, directly or through a Child Site Management Policy. You can sign in again only after the app is enabled.

Automatically Start on Login

The Files.com Desktop app includes an option to Launch application on login, which is enabled by default.

Enabling this setting means that any connections which mount as volumes will be automatically available on your computer without needing to manually start the Files.com Desktop app.

You can disable the setting if you prefer to open the Desktop App yourself after logging in.