ForkLift combines the power of a robust file manager with versatile file transfer capabilities, seamlessly bridging the gap between your local and remote files. Whether you're dealing with cloud services or more traditional FTP and SFTP servers, ForkLift streamlines your file management and transfers, making them smoother than ever.

ForkLift 4 is your all-in-one solution for efficient file management and seamless file transfers, across multiple platforms and services.

We understand that accessing, organizing, synchronizing, and sharing your files should be hassle-free, especially as the landscape of file sharing evolves with the increasing importance of cloud service providers such as Dropbox, Amazon S3, Google Drive, and OneDrive.

Is ForkLift worth it compared to alternatives like Finder or Nimble Commander?

Many users appreciate its dual-pane layout, batch operations, archives support, and advanced sync features. Compared to rivals, ForkLift offers better transfer management and preview behavior. Still, some feel the interface isn't as lightweight or intuitive as others.

Is it easy to switch from Finder to ForkLift as the default file manager?

Yes. By running a simple defaults write -g NSFileViewer -string com.binarynights.ForkLift command in Terminal, you can set ForkLift as the system default for opening folders.

Which protocols can I connect to ForkLift?

ForkLift will connect to any remote server such as SFTP, FTP, WebDav, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Rackspace Cloudfiles, SMB, AFP, and NFS remote volumes. You can manage your files and connect to multiple servers at a time and even copy between them with drag and drop.

Is ForkLift free?

You can download a time limited trial of ForkLift, but you will need to buy a license in order to keep using it.

Features

Remote Connections

Connect to SFTP, FTP, WebDav, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Rackspace Cloudfiles, SMB, AFP, and NFS remote volumes. Manage your files efficiently across networks: connect to multiple servers simultaneously and even copy between them with drag and drop.

Sync

Compare local or remote source and target folders identifying matching, modified, new and deleted files. Synchronize them one or two-way with a single mouseclick, or save it as a favorite.
Up to 20x faster analyzation than ForkLift 3.

Favorite Paths

Experience enhanced efficiency for remote destinations. Think of it like having favorites within favorites – an organized way to keep track of paths you frequently use and want quick access to.

Preview

The preview panel shows you useful information about the selected file. Playback audio and video files, inspect images, PDFs and other popular document types. Quick edit text files in place, both on local drives and remote servers.

Activity View

Whether you're copying, renaming, deleting, compressing, or handling other tasks, this feature lets you see exactly what's going on. No more guesswork – watch your tasks progress in real-time and stay in control of your file management action.

Quick Open

Easily access your favorites, devices, menu commands, open a selected file with a preferred application, or apply a previously saved Multi Rename preset on selected files or folders.

Log View

Get valuable insights into your file management activities and their results, all in one easy-to-access place.

Favorite Sync

ForkLift will keep all your favorites synchronized across multiple computers via iCloud.

Dropbox Support

Copying Dropbox links to files located in your Dropbox directory is just a right-click away.

Transfers

Reorder transfers, set conflict management rules, error handling, limit download and upload bandwidth.

Tags

Organize your documents and files with tags: add, edit, remove, search, or filter them within ForkLift.

Sync Browsing

Given two identical folder structures. Browse in one pane and let ForkLift do the job for you in the other pane.

Tabs

Open different folders in the same pane, instead of separate windows.

Search

Search and filter by name, extension, kind, tags or content, even on remote servers.

Quick Select

Select files by typing a filename, an extension, or a tag and add them or exclude them from the selection.

Remote Editing

Set your preferred editor in ForkLift to edit remote files and we take care of uploading your changes as you save.

Command Line Tools

Extend ForkLift's capabilities to the max by invoking command line tools and apply them by using shortcuts.

Themes

A seamless way to personalize your interface. Choose from predefined themes that suit your taste, or let your creativity shine by crafting your very own themes.

App Deleter

ForkLift comes with an application deleter to remove the last morsels of an application you want to uninstall.

iCloud Support

Seamlessly access and manage your iCloud files through ForkLift.

Archive Management

Browse local and remote archives as if they were ordinary folders. You can even Quick Look, search and filter.

Keyboard Control

Control every operation straight from the keyboard and customize it to your preferences.

Multilingual

ForkLift speaks English, German and Hungarian. More languages are coming soon!

Workspaces

Save different layouts with opened tabs and locations and load what you need at the moment.

Git Support

ForkLift knows git and will show you the status of individual files. You can add, commit, push, and pull.

Open in Terminal

An absolute must for powerusers. Open a Terminal, iTerm, Hyper, Kitty or Warp window at your current local path.

Hidden Files

Make hidden files and folders visible easily by using a shortcut or pressing a button in the toolbar.

Share

Share gives you an easy way to share all kinds of documents and other files instantly.

Default File Viewer

Set ForkLift as the default file viewer and almost every app will point to ForkLift instead of Finder.

File Compare

Compare two text or images files with Xcode's FileMerge, Kaleiodoscope, Beyond Compare, or Araxis Merge.

What's New

ForkLift 4.6.1 is available – Tahoe folder colors, improved memory usage, and restored PDF preview

Folder icon support on macOS Tahoe and performance improvements

Finder on macOS Tahoe introduced a big change by allowing users to customize folder icons. The last applied color tag now determines the folder color, and it is also possible to add icons to folders to make them stand out.

With ForkLift 4.6.1, we have updated how folder icons are handled. ForkLift now inherits folder colors from Finder, and when you assign a color tag in ForkLift, the folder color updates accordingly. ForkLift also displays custom icons that were added in Finder. However, due to missing system APIs, adding custom folder icons directly in ForkLift is not possible at this time.

We have also fixed multiple possible memory leaks and improved overall memory usage. This results in a more stable and efficient experience.

PDF preview fixes and iCloud tag improvements

In addition, this version includes several smaller improvements. You can now edit file favorites directly from the sidebar, use the Tab key to autocomplete tags more reliably, and benefit from improved information display in the Status bar and in the Preview pane.

We were also able to restore the full functionality of the PDF viewer in the Preview pane. It is now again possible to customize preview options through the right-click context menu, and text selection inside PDF previews has been re-enabled.

It is now also possible to remove the last remaining tag on iCloud Drive, and we have resolved an issue where pressing the Tab key during tag autocompletion could cause the tag to disappear.

New

  • ForkLift now colorizes folder icons on macOS Tahoe the same way as Finder, inheriting and applying the assigned colors
  • ForkLift displays customized folder icons set in Finder, however, customizing folder icons directly in ForkLift is not supported

Improvements

  • Improves the display of aggregated date information in the Preview pane when multiple files are selected
  • Adds an alert when iCloud Drive is busy and interaction is not possible, to clarify why an action cannot be executed
  • Adds an option to edit file favorites from the context menu in the Sidebar
  • Improves memory usage

Fixes

  • Fixes an issue that made the file view jump in List View after renaming or deleting files when Group by was enabled
  • Fixes multiple possible memory leaks
  • Fixes an issue that didn't show the lock icon on locked folders when icon preview is enabled (the lock icon doesn't show up on files starting from this version)
  • Fixes an issue in the Status bar, which didn't update the displayed info correctly after folders were expanded and collapsed
  • Fixes an issue of the preview of PDF file in the Preview Pane introduced in version 4.3.5, which made it impossible to select text inside the preview and to use the right-click context menu to customize the preview options. This version restores the previous functionality
  • Fixes an issue that made it impossible to remove the last tag on iCloud Drive when there was only one tag remaining
  • Fixes an issue where pressing the Tab key while autocompleting a tag made the tag disappear

Two powerful new features in ForkLift 4.6

Exciting news! ForkLift 4.6 introduces two major features that power users will love, especially those who rely heavily on tags and those who create custom tools.

Smarter tagging and autocompletion

The first major improvement in ForkLift 4.6 focuses on tags.

Working with tags in ForkLift has traditionally not been as seamless as in Finder, mainly due to macOS limitations for third-party developers. Unlike Finder, third-party apps cannot access and edit tag data in the same way, which means features like native tag autocompletion are not directly available.

In earlier versions, we introduced the Tags section in the Settings to allow users to add their own tags to the sidebar, making them easily accessible. With ForkLift 4.6, we are expanding this feature and making it more powerful.

ForkLift now uses the tags listed in the Settings for autocompletion in the Tags section of the Preview Pane or in the info window. As you type, it suggests matching tags from your predefined list.

ForkLift tag autocomplete as you write
To take full advantage of this feature, you should add the tags you use most frequently to the Settings. This ensures they are always available for quick and consistent tagging.

Better control over sidebar tags

Since you may not want to display every tag in the sidebar, we have made it easier to manage their visibility. To hide a tag, right-click it in the Settings and select "Hide from Sidebar". To show it again, right-click and select "Show in Sidebar"

If you want to manage the visibility of multiple tags at once, it is easier to use the Sidebar Editor. Add the tags you want in the Settings, then close the Settings window. From the menu, select View > Show Sidebar Editor. When the Sidebar Editor appears, you can quickly hide tags by unchecking them. Once you are done, you can close the Sidebar Editor again from the View menu.

This gives you full control over which tags are visible without affecting their availability for autocompletion.

Assign tags directly from the sidebar

The sidebar is now more than just a way to filter files. You can still click a tag to view all associated items, but now you can also assign tags directly from the sidebar:

  • Select one or more files or folders
  • Drag them onto a tag in the sidebar
  • Drop them to assign that tag

This makes tagging faster and more intuitive, especially when working with multiple files.

Improved tag input field

We have also improved the tag input field in the sidebar. Not only does it now include a dropdown to suggest matching tags as you type, but it can also expand to display all assigned tags, making them easier to view and manage. Previously, this field had limited space and could not show all tags at once when working with a large number of tags.

Custom tools, now one click away

The second major improvement focuses on tools.

The Tools feature has always been one of the more powerful, yet somewhat hidden, features of ForkLift. It allows you to create your own tools in the settings using zsh scripts, so you can execute complex actions and workflows more easily.

Previously, these tools could only be executed from the Commands menu, and later they became available in the right-click context menu. Now, we are taking this a step further:

You can add your custom tools directly to the toolbar and execute them with a single click.

Customize your tool icons

When creating or editing a tool, you can assign an icon to represent it both in the Tools section and in the toolbar. By default, new tools use a gear icon, and existing tools are also assigned this icon automatically.

You can easily change it:

  • Click the icon in the top-left corner while editing or creating a tool
  • Choose a new icon from the pop-up window


This makes it much easier to visually distinguish your tools at a glance.

How to add tools to the toolbar

Adding your tools to the toolbar is simple, but it happens in two steps:

1. Enable the option

  • Go to the Tools tab in the Settings
  • While creating or editing a tool, enable "Show in Toolbar"

2. Add it manually to the toolbar

  • Right-click the toolbar
  • Select "Customize Toolbar…"
  • Find your enabled tool in the customization tray
  • Drag it into the toolbar


Note: Enabling "Show in Toolbar" does not automatically add the tool, it only makes it available for selection.

Full List of changes

New

  • Tags autocompletion feature in the Preview Pane and Info Window based on the list of tags added under ForkLift > Settings > Tags
  • Option to assign a tag to a file by dropping a file onto a tag in the sidebar
  • Option to add custom tools created under ForkLift > Settings > Tools to the toolbar
  • Option to hide and display tags in the sidebar under ForkLift > Settings > Tags through the right-click context menu

Improvements

  • Improved expandable Tags field in the Preview Pane, now able to display all tags
  • Option to exit the Tags field using the Esc key
  • Option to select multiple tools in the Tools section of the Settings

Fixes

  • Fixes an issue that indicated it was possible to add remote files as favorites to the sidebar by drag and drop
  • Fixes an issue in Column View where, after disconnecting from a remote location, the location did not change back to the starting directory
  • Fixes an issue on macOS Tahoe where hitting Esc in the tool editor while adding a new item did not cancel the operation and instead added the new item