Downloading Files and Folders

Use the CLI App to download files and folders from your Files.com site. Downloads work from any folder, including those located within Remote Server Mounts.

To download a file, use the command:

files-cli download /remote/path/to/file.txt /local/path/to/file.txt

or

files-cli download /remote/path/to/file.txt /local/path/to/folder/

To download a folder, use the command:

files-cli download /remote/path/to/folder/ /local/path/to/folder/

Local Destination Behavior

By default, a download replaces a local file that already exists at the destination path. Use the --no-overwrite flag to keep existing local files and skip downloading the corresponding remote files.

When no local path is supplied, the CLI App downloads into the current working directory under the remote file's name. A name that the operating system would interpret as another path or a reserved device is rejected. Supply an explicit local path with a suitable name when the remote name cannot be used locally.

For a folder download, paths supplied by the remote listing are resolved within the selected local destination. A directory junction or symbolic link inside that destination cannot redirect a downloaded file outside it; the operation fails instead. Files.com does not create or store directory junctions or symbolic links; any link in the destination was created on the local system.

On Windows, the resolved local path drops trailing periods and spaces from file names. Files named report.txt and report.txt. in the same Files.com folder therefore download to one local file; with the default overwrite behavior, the one written last remains. The source files remain separate on Files.com, where folder permissions apply; those permissions do not control the local copy.

Limiting File Chunking

The download operation breaks each file into multiple pieces, or chunks, and transfers those chunks in parallel to speed up the transfer.

Chunking speeds up transfers, but some remote systems don't support it, which can cause failed or partial transfers.

If you have problems downloading files from a Files.com folder stored on a Remote Server Mount, disable chunking with the --download-files-as-single-stream flag.

files-cli download /remote/path/to/folder/ /local/path/to/folder/ --download-files-as-single-stream

The --download-files-as-single-stream flag makes the download slower but more resilient when downloading from a Remote Server Mount folder.

Viewing Connection Information

To see connection information — the number of open data connections, the number of open API connections, and the network throughput — use the --connection-metrics flag.

files-cli download /remote/path/to/folder/ /local/path/to/folder/ --connection-metrics