The Files.com Desktop app is built for fast and efficient transfers of large amounts of data between your local system and Files.com, with a simple and easy-to-use interface. It is specifically designed for human usage for file transfers between humans and systems.

The Desktop App supports drag-and-drop functionality, allowing users to easily browse the local file system in the left pane and Files.com content in the right pane. File management actions such as upload, download, create folder, rename, delete, move, and copy can be performed directly from the UI. In-progress transfers can be stopped, and users can view the progress of ongoing transfers, as well as failed and successful transfers.

The Desktop App also supports automatic retries for failures and file overwriting. Both options can be modified from the Settings or Preferences.

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 choose to disable the setting. If you do so, the Desktop app will not automatically start when you log into your computer, and any mounted volumes will not work until you run the Files.com Desktop app.

Mounting Connections as Volumes

The Files.com Desktop App supports direct access to Files.com connections as mounted volumes on both Windows and macOS. After launching the Desktop App, any connections configured for mounting are automatically mounted, and multiple connections can be mounted at the same time. New connections are set to auto-mount by default and will mount automatically when created.

You can enable or disable this behavior using the Mount as Volume option available under Manage Files.com Connections. If any mounting-related settings are changed in a connection’s configuration, the volume will be remounted automatically to apply the updates.

On Windows, mounted connections appear as mapped drives in Windows Explorer under This PC. The highest available drive letter is used when mounting a volume, and if no drive letters are available, the mount will fail. You can configure a specific drive letter for each connection, but if that letter is already in use, the mounting process will not succeed.

On macOS, mounted connections appear as standard network volumes in Finder under Locations. macOS uses standard mount points rather than drive letters.

Mounted Drive Mode allows you to browse folders, open files, edit content, and save changes directly through your native file browser. Files are automatically transferred in the background by your operating system and internet connection, letting you work with them as if they were stored locally. When you open a file, it is downloaded if not already cached; when you save changes, the file is uploaded back to Files.com automatically.

When you use a Microsoft Office desktop editor to edit a file using a mounted volume, file locks automatically prevent issues with simultaneous editing.

This feature is currently available on Windows with the EXE installer and on macOS with the PKG and DMG installers. Mounting mapped drives is not currently supported when using the MSI installer

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. After login, the app securely generates and stores a dedicated API key. The Desktop App also supports SSO, allowing authentication through your organization’s Single Sign-On provider.

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.

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.

Expired Credentials

If an account has expired credentials, you will be required to sign in to that account (through the desktop app) again before reconnecting. Credentials may expire for a number of reasons, including the Desktop session was manually revoked by you or a site administrator via the web app, or the Desktop session lifetime that's set for your Files.com site has lapsed (defaults to 30 days, unless modified by a site admin). Credentials may expire if your site has Desktop Session IP Pinning enabled, requiring you to sign in again if your IP address changes while already signed in to the desktop app.