FileBrowser UserGuide

Learn What you can do with Files on iOS with FileBrowser

Connect to:

Simply Tap "Add Location" on the home screen and follow the setup wizard.

How to add a location using FileBrowser

If you are having difficulty connecting see one of the linked articles below to see our step by step instructions on how to get connected:

Favorites

Add your Favorite files, folder or server locations to the top of the Home Screen, speeding up your workflow. Drag Favorites to re-order them.

Pin your favorite connections to the home screen of FileBrowser

Tabs

A document explorer app using tabs like a browser

Easily switch between Tabs to speed up your workflow. Simply copy files from one tab to another.

Create a new Tab by tapping the "+" icon next to the first Tab and navigate to any of your storage locations.

You can even drag and drop files between your open Tabs.

Split View

To create the split view drag a Tab to the far right of the screen. Now you have 2 instances of FileBrowser, and can easily browse and drag and drop files between them.

Create multiple windows using FileBrowser

Drag and Drop

Single File Drag Drop

Tap and hold a file, then drag the file into either another windows or tab.

Multi File Drag Drop

Tap "Select" in the top right corner, now you are in multi-selection mode and can select many files and folders. Double tap to select a range of files. Then drag one of the selected files into either a new window or tab. See the Multi-select section.

Drag and drop files into folders using your iPad
Please Note

Dragging files to somewhere on the same location you will move the files.
Dragging files to another location will copy the files.

Access folder view options on your iPad or iPhone

Folder View Options

FileBrowser remembers the View mode, Sort order and even Zoom level, per folder. Perfect for Photos or Files.

List View

Single column showing file details. - Pinch to resize.

Grid View

Grid of icons or image thumbnails. - Pinch to resize thumbnails.

Column View

Two or three columns showing file details. - Use the Zoom slider on the Sort Menu.

View your files using FileBrowserGOs Gallery mode
Gallery View

Large preview, with menu and options off to the side to adjust IPTC and XMP on photos.

Sort Options

Sort by one of the options below in either ascending or descending order, you can also sort by folders first.

  • Sort by Name
  • Sort Folders First
  • Sort by Date
  • Sort by Size
  • Sort by Type
  • Sort by Rating
Select the files actions menu on your iPad or iPhone

File Actions Menu

This can be accessed via the file actions menu to the right of your files.

Get Folder Info

This displays a popup showing a summary of file & folder size and content categories.

View / Print

This views files using an alternate viewer. Tapping the share button in this mode allows you to print your document.

Markup

This opens files using the annotator viewer. Tapping the share button in this mode allows you to print your document.

Edit In Place

Open a file into another editing app, your changes will be saved back to its location.

How to edit documents from FileBrowser

Open as Text

Open the file and treat it as containing only text.


Copy

Copy a file.

How to use multiple select

Move

Move a file to selected folder.

Duplicate

Make a duplicate of the current file.

Rename

Rename the file or bulk rename multiple files.

Bulk Rename Overview

Delete

Delete a file or folder.


Share

Share your file to another app, including via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or iMessage etc.

Google Drive Share

If you have shared a folder from Google Drive you can manage that list here.

Export to Files App

Export a file to a folder of another app.
Export Folders into another app

Copy to iOS Clipboard

Copy files to the iOS clipboard so they can be pasted into other apps.

Email Attachment

Attach a file to an Email.

Zip this Folder

Create a Zip file of the selected folder.


Create PDF

Convert an Image into a PDF file.

Queue Audio

Add a music track to the now playing list.

Queue to Chromecast

Queue a movie file to play on a Chromecast device.

Stream to Another App

Stream video files to a third party app such as VLC or GoodPlayer, or set your default streaming app from FileBrowser.

Stream Movies to other apps

Create Slideshow

Create a slideshow from the selected folder.

How to create Slideshows


Create a Sync task to sync files to your iPad or iPhone
Create a Sync Task

Setup a Sync Task to copy files and folders to your iPad / iPhone.

How to Sync Files on iPhone or iPad

Create a Backup task to backup files from one location to another from your iPad or iPhone
Create a Backup Task

Setup a Backup Task to copy files or folders from one destination to another.

How to Backup files on iPhone or iPad

Run Task

Run a Custom Task on the current file. Find out more about Custom Tasks


Create a File / Folder Link

Create a UNC path link or a FileBrowser URL which can be used to launch FileBrowser in iOS.

Create file links that you can email or paste into a folder.

Add Voice Shortcut

Create a phrase to Bookmark a folder, and simply repeat this phase to Siri, FileBrowser will open, connect and navigate to your chosen folder.

Add to Favorites

Add the current folder to the favorites section on the homepage.

Access your USB drives using your iPad or iPhone

USB Drives

Simply plug in your USB drive and follow the instructions below:

  • From FileBrowser's Home screen tap "Add Location", then tap "USB/Files"
  • From here, tap "Select Location" and select your USB device from the iOS document picker.

You can add multiple USB drives and FileBrowser will remember them.

Access your SanDisk iXpand drive on your iPad requires FileBrowser Professional Browse your SanDisk iXpand drive on your iPad with ease

SanDisk iXpand Drive

An easy way to free up storage on your iPad / iPhone is to keep large files on a SanDisk iXpand drive. Simply plug it in and it will appear as another location in FileBrowser Professional.

*FileBrowser Professional feature
Easily map an apps shared folder usingFileBrowser

How to map a folder of another app

Map the folders of other apps such as FireFox's Download folder or PDF Viewer's folder as a location inFileBrowser for easy access and manipulation.

  • From FileBrowser's Home screen tap "Add Location", then tap "App Folder"
  • From here, tap "Select Location" and expand the "On My iPad" section and browse into an app's folder. Tap "Done" here or browse into a sub-folder to add just that folder.
Export files to other apps on your iPad or iPhone

Export

Easily export your files to your iCloud Drive or another apps shared folder using the steps below:

  • Tap "Export to Files App" from the file menu icon and the iOS document picker will appear.
  • Select your iCloud Drive or another apps shared storage location to export the files to that location.
Also see Import

Browse your FileBrowser Locations on your Computer

Browse the files in FileBrowser and your cloud and network connections you have configured in FileBrowser directly from your Mac or PC using FileBrowser's WebDAV server.

Easily copy files from iPad to iPad or iPhone to iPhone

Copy from iPad to iPad

Easily Transfer files from your iPad to another iPad or even an iPhone

Copy files / folders from one iOS device to another using AirDrop or FileBrowser's iPad connection wizard.

How to copy files or folders from one device to another
How to select multiple files and folders on your iPad or iPhone

Multi File Select Mode

Step 1

Tap the "Select" button on the top toolbar or tap and hold a file or a folder to enter multi select mode.

Step 2

Then select the files and or folders you want.

You can also select groups of files by tapping the first file then double tapping the last file, all files in between become selected.

Then tap copy or tap the toolbar to access more options such as Move, Delete, Share, Create Zip and Rename.

  • Choose Copy/Move and go to step 3.
  • Choose Delete (you will always be asked to confirm).
  • Cancel multi-selection mode by tapping the "Cancel" button.

Step 3

Navigate to where you want your files or folders to be copied / moved and tap link in the top right corner "Paste X files here...".


Advanced Multiple File Selection on iPad Guide

Selecting Mulitple Images from the Image Viewer

Step 1

Tap to view an image fullscreen.

Step 2

Swipe left and right to navigate the images, tap the tick in the top toolbar on images you would like to select.

Step 3

Tap Done, all the images you selected are now shown.
Now use the context menu to select one of the many actions such as Copy / Move / Rename or Delete.

Editing Documents Made Easy

Your changes are saved back to the cloud or server

Browse your documents on servers or in the cloud with FileBrowser and within 2 taps you can be editing your documents in Word (Excel & Powerpoint too). When you exit, all your changes are saved back to the server or cloud.

How to Edit Documents from FileBrowser
FileBrowser integrates with the iOS files app

Files App Integration

FileBrowser integrates with the iOS Files app, providing access to all your documents no matter whether they are in the cloud or on personal computers.

iOS Files app integration

ePub Viewer

Easily read ePub files with FileBrowser, change the theme, font and font sizes, you can even bookmark your page.

  • Tap the actions menu
  • then select "View Options"
FileBrowser integrates with the iOS files app

Bulk Rename Tools

FileBrowser features advanced iOS bulk rename tools, just like you would find on a desktop.

FileBrowser Advanced Bulk Rename Features

Find and Replace Filenames

Replace text in filenames in bulk with our simple guide.

Premium Features require a FileBrowserGO subscription

Rename using Date Taken Information

Rename Photos with the Date you took the photograph with our simple guide.

Rename using EXIF Properties on iPad, iPhone

Rename using EXIF Properties

Add EXIF properties to your filename in bulk, such as ISO or Make and Model with our simple guide.

Add Text to Multiple Files

Add text to the beginning or end of multiple files with our simple guide.

How to create documents in a specific folder on your iPad or iPhone

Toolbar Actions Menu

Show Email

Show me the Email with all the Attachments I have added so far.

Paste

Paste to complete a copy or move action.


Rename Files

Rename the file or bulk rename multiple files.
How to use bulk rename

Share Files

Share multiple files.
How to Share Multiple Files on iOS

Email Attachment

Attach multiple files to an email.

Create Zip File

Compress all files selected into a single zip file.

Premium Features require a FileBrowserGO subscription
Create PDF File

Merge multiple PDFs into a single document.
Merge PDFs

Convert multiple images into a single PDF as a one page document or multi-page photo contact sheet.
Create Multi-page PDFs on iOS


Create a Folder

Create a Folder in the current location.

Create a Document

Create a new file in the current folder. New files include:

  • Txt
  • PDF
  • Word
  • Excel
  • Powerpoint
  • Pages
  • Numbers
  • Keynote

Import from Files App

Import a file from another app's folder or Document Provider.
How to Import Files from Another App

Download from URL

Download any file from the web. Just copy the URL and paste it into FileBrowser to save a local copy.
How to Download Files from the Internet

Paste iOS Clipboard

Paste an image or text thats on the iOS Clipboard into a new file.


Import from Photo Library

Open your Photo Library select photos to import directly into the current folder.

Capture from Camera

Take a photo or Video and save it directly into the current folder.
Premium Features require a FileBrowserGO subscriptionDocument Scanner

Capture to PDF

Take a photo and save it as a PDF into the current folder. Perfect for expenses.

Premium Features require a FileBrowserGO subscription
Set Quick Capture Folder

Set the current folder as the capture location when using the camera icon on the locations tab.

Record Audio

Record a voice Memo to the current folder.

Create Slideshow

Create a slideshow from the images or folders selected.

How to Create a Slideshow


Run Task

Run a Custom Task on the current folder or selection.

Create Task

Find out more about Custom Tasks

Easily Import files into FileBrowser from other apps

Import

Easily Import files from your iCloud Drive or another apps shared folder, such as FireFox's Downloads folder using the steps below:

  • In the folder you want to Import the file into, tap Import from the toolbar menu icon and the iOS document picker will appear.
  • Select the file you wish to Import from your iCloud Drive or another apps shared folder and it will be copied to the current folder.
Easily add Bookmarks to folder locations or PDF files with your iPad or iPhone

Bookmarks

Bookmarks are a shortcut to either a folder a document or a page within a PDF or ePub file, allowing you to return to a location with a single tap.

Folder Bookmarks

Bookmark the most used folders on your computer such as My Documents, Downloads, Photo Library or a Media Drive folder.

Create a Bookmark
  • Tap the Bookmark icon and tap the "Add" button.
  • You can give it a more memorable name and confirm.
Open a Bookmark
  • Tap the Bookmark icon and your existing Bookmarks are listed.
  • Just tap one and FileBrowser will connect and browse to the Bookmarked folder.
Document Bookmarks

Reading a long PDF? Whether it's a book or a presentation or a legal document, add one or more Bookmarks. When you tap a Bookmark, FileBrowser will remember the page in the PDF and open it where you left off.

When reading a PDF:

  • Tap the Bookmark icon in the toolbar
  • Tap 'Add' for rapid navigation to this file next time.
Sort and Re-Order Bookmarks

You can re-order your bookmarks by tapping "Edit" then "Sort". You can then choose between:

  • Most Recently Used
  • Name
  • Location
  • User Arranged

When in "User Arranged" sort mode tap "Edit" and you can drag the arrange icons on the right to re-order your Bookmarks.

Bookmark folder locations for quick access on your iPad or iPhone

History

FileBrowser automatically remembers the most recently visited files and folders, and with a single tap you can re-open a file or rapidly browse to a folder.

Tap the History icon in the breadcrumb bar to display the files and folders that you have recently interacted with.

View your recently accessed folders on your iPad

You can also view your History in the Bookmarks menu. From here you can clear individual items or clear your entire history.

  • Tap the Bookmarks icon in the bottom toolbar
  • Select the "History" tab.
  • Clear your files or folders from your History by swiping left and tapping the delete icon.
  • To clear your entire History tap "Edit" and then tap "Clear History".
See the history of files accessed on your iPad or iPhone
Use Siri reminders to open file locations, at a set time or even when you get home

Siri Reminders

The Siri keyword "this" will associate FileBrowser's current document or Folder with the Siri reminder.

For example simply navigate to a folder or file and say "Siri remind me of this tonight" or "Siri remind me of this when I get home" and Siri will create a reminder linked to FileBrowser's current folder or document.

PDF and Image Annotation

Annotate your PDFs and Images to make comments, highlight text and use the drawing tools. FileBrowser offers full support for Apple Pencil to make drawing and writing easier on iPad Pro. Once you have finished annotating your document or image FileBrowser will save the new file and keep the original as a backup.

  • Tap the file context menu and select Markup
  • Tap the annotate icon in the top right, this will display the annotation menu.
  • You have the following tools:
    • Pen
    • Highlighter
    • Pencil
    • Eraser
    • Selection Pen
    • Ruler
    • Text boxes
    • Signature block
    • Shapes
  • After you have finished annotating your photo or PDF simply tap "Done".
Annotate your PDFs or Images on iPad
Premium Features require a FileBrowserGO subscription

Merge PDFs

  • Select multiple PDFs in a folder and then tap the menu icon (bottom left). Select "Create PDF File".
  • Tap "Create PDF File" and the new PDF will be saved into the current folder. You can save the PDF to another location by unchecking "Save to this Folder" and the file will be copied to your clipboard.
Tip: If you change the sort by and sort order the files will be added in order from top to bottom in the file view.

Premium Features require a FileBrowserGO subscription

Create Multi-Page PDFs from Photos

  • Select multiple images in a folder and then tap the menu icon (bottom left). Select "Create PDF File".
  • Select the number of image you want per page.
  • Select your paper orientation, portrait or landscape.
  • Choose the quality by selecting DPI
  • Optionally choose an Exif property to add to your file labels
  • You can also add the filenames underneath each image for easy reference.
  • Tap "Create PDF File" and the new PDF will be saved into the current folder. If you want to save the PDF to another location uncheck "Save to this Folder" and the file will be copied to your clipboard.
Easily create multipage PDFs on iOS

Comic book viewing

View your comics collection stored in CBR or CBZ files. View images within any ZIP or RAR file.

  • Simply Tap the comic file and FileBrowser will open it in the comic viewer.
View CBR or CBZ Comic book files on your iPad or iPhone

Image Viewing

Chromecast photos from your iPad or iPhone to your TV

Chromecast your Photos to your HDTV

To stream your images to a Chromecast device, view your image full screen and tap the Airplay icon on the toolbar and select your Chromecast device.

Airplay photos from your iPad or iPhone to your TV

Airplay™ your Photos to your HDTV

If you have Apple TV or AirPlay™ enabled media server such as KODI, use FileBrowser to relay your Images to your big screen. View your image full screen and tap the AirPlay icon on the toolbar and select your device.

Create and save Slideshows on your iPad or iPhone

Slideshows

Create Slideshows in FileBrowser

Create slideshows and save them for later use. You can access them from the home page of the app, simply tap "Slideshows".

To create a Slideshow do the following either:

  • Tap a folder context menu and select "Create Slideshow".

This will create a slideshow of all the images inside that folder and its subfolders.

  • Select multiple images, then tap the Toolbar Actions menu and select "Create Slideshow".

This will create a new Slideshow with only the images you have selected.

To change the delay, transitions and order in the Image Viewer tap the Actions Menu and select Slideshow Settings.

*FileBrowserGO and FileBrowser Professional feature, requires iOS10 or later
How to access the your Image Actions Menu on your iPad or iPhone

Image Viewer Actions Menu

This can be accessed on the top toolbar when viewing an image.

Image Properties

Display your image properties (EXIF data) such as dimensions, color mode, latitude, camera model etc.

Markup

Annotate your images with markers or text tools, then you can save it as a new file.

Slideshow Settings

Change delays and transitions.

How to Change Slideshow Settings

Share...

Share your file via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or iMessage etc.

Print

Send your image to an AirPrint device.

#
Scale / Crop

Scale images by either width or height or crop an image to a format.

#
Rotate Image

Rotate your image left or right.

#
Convert

Convert an image to another format such as JPG, PNG, HEIC or TIFF.

Email Attachment

Attach document or image to an Email, if you have a large image you will be given the option to send a smaller version of the image.

Browse and sort your iPhone or iPad Photos by name or date, even change the view modes.
Accessing your iPad or iPhone's Photos

You now have access to the photos synced to your iPad or iPhone from iPhoto. Tapping the "Photo Library" heading in the left hand column will allow you to browse the built-in iOS Photo Library.

Backup your iPhone photos over wifi without iCloud
Backup iPhone camera roll is a Premium Feature
Backup your Camera Roll to your Computer or your Cloud Storage

See our guide on how to backup your iPhone Photos or Videos without iCloud. You can even backup your photos to multiple locations for added piece of mind.

*FileBrowserGO and FileBrowser Professional feature

Backup Photos to your Cloud Storage or Computer

Selecting Multiple Images

You can select multiple images in the image view by tapping the Tick button on each image. Selecting them turns the tick blue like the screenshot. When you have finished you will be returned to the folder view in edit mode where you can choose to copy or delete those images.

Zoom

When in the image viewer, a double tap will set the zoom level to 1 image pixel to 1px on the iPad / iPhone.

XMP review is a Premium Feature

XMP Review

Update or create new XMP sidecar files for photos and rapidly update rejection and star rate your photos.

There are several ways to rate photos:

Option 1

Open a photo and tap the screen again to see the rating options at the bottom of the screen.

Option 2

Open an image to enter full screen mode, then tap the 'i' information icon in the top toolbar. You can star rate or reject your photos using the icons in the top of the information panel. You can also check EXIF data in your photographs such as Exposure time, shutter speed etc.

Option 3

In Gallery View, you can view your image properties as part of the preview and rate or reject your photos from here.
Tag Photos with XMP on your iPad or iPhone


*FileBrowserGO and FileBrowser Professional feature
Star rate your photos with XMP on your iPad or iPhone

Playing Movies

Simply tap the Movie file you want to play and it will auto start, tap the center of the screen to pause the video. Once paused you can tap anywhere on the screen to bring up the additional controls.

All video file formats supported by the iPad / iPhone can be streamed. FileBrowser also supports HD content if your WiFi network is fast enough.

Stream movie files from your computer to your iPad or iPhone

See More Information on FileBrowser's Media Player Features



DRM Protected Movies from iTunes
Apple prevent movies purchased from iTunes being streamed to non-Apple apps.

Play Music

FileBrowser can play most music file types including Hi-Res FLAC. Featuring several play modes including:

Album mode

Album Mode

Play selected track and the remaining ones in the folder.

Single mode

Single Mode

Selecting a track from a folder queues and plays it once.

Repeat mode

Repeat Mode

Play selected track and all others in the folder continuously.

Shuffle mode

Shuffle Mode

Play selected track and others in the folder randomly.

Queue Tracks

You can play queue tracks to play by tapping the context menu on a track and select "Queue Audio". This will place it in the now playing queue.

Edit Track Order

Re-order queued tracks, Simply tap edit, then drag the tracks into the order you want and tap "done".

Podcasts & Audiobooks

Speed Up and slow down track playback. Great for audiobooks.

Airplay Music from your iPad or iPhone   Pair your Alexa device to your iPhone or iPad   Chromecast Music from your iPad or iPhone

AirPlay Music to your Alexa or AirPlay Speakers

To stream your music to your Alexa device, pair your iPad or iPhone to your Alexa device. For Chromecast or AirPlay devices, tap the icon in the music player and select your device from the list.

MusicStreamer stream your music library to your iPad

MusicStreamer

For a dedicated music playing app, try our MusicStreamer app

Import and export playlists, connect to multiple music libraries and download tracks for offline playback. With our iTunes Alternative for Streaming MP3s.
Find out more about MusicStreamer.

Download MusicStreamer from the AppStore
Create QR Codes on your iPad or iPhone
QR and Bara code scanning are Premium Features

QR and Bar Code Support

Create QR Codes

You can now use FileBrowser to track assets in your organisation. Perhaps you have banks of servers you need to identify or paper documents to locate in a directory. Print QR code labels on the assets and then find the corresponding server, folder or computer file instantly with FileBrowser's QR Code scanner.

You could also point to any folder or location on your servers.

*FileBrowser Professional feature
Creating a Code
  • Simply tap the Toolbar menu and select "Create a folder link".
  • Then choose "Copy QR Code to Clipboard"
  • Paste your QR Code into an email, document or use "Paste iOS clipboard" to save the code directly to a folder.
Scan QR Codes
  • Use the camera to read a QR Code and jump to a folder.
How Does it Work?
  • Simply tap the Bookmarks Icon.
  • Tap the QR Code icon and scan your QR Code and tap Use.
Scan Bar Codes to display a folder location using your iPad or iPhone
Barcode scanning is a Premium Feature

Barcode Search

Your ERP system may already create barcodes that identify files or folders on the company file system. Tap the search button in FileBrowser Professional and then the barcode button to scan and search.

Enable 'the Barcode Button on Toolbar' setting in Config/Preferences to show a dedicated scan button for rapid access.

*FileBrowser Professional feature
Document Scanner for your iPad or iPhone

Document Scanner

Document scanner is a Premium Feature

Use the camera to capture single or multiple page paper documents into a single PDF. With colour correction and automatic edge alignment.

  • Tap the plus icon on the bottom Toolbar and select "Capture to PDF".
  • Make sure that "Document" is selected as the camera mode.
  • Your document will be saved to the current folder.
*FileBrowser Professional feature
Added Security access your machines using Face / Touch ID on your iPad or iPhone

Face ID Logins

TouchID is a Premium Feature

With Face/Touch ID you can add an extra level of security when accessing your machines.

  • Tap the settings icon on the server you want to add Face ID to and select 'Edit'.
  • Then enable Touch ID / Face ID and tap 'Save'.

Once activated, your face or fingerprint will be required to access your stored credentials to connect.

*FileBrowser Professional feature

Import and Export your Configuration files

Export your settings to configuration file to setup a new iPad / iPhone. All your connection details, preferences and app settings will be included. If you are using FileBrowserGO or FileBrowser Professional, you can choose to encrypt the settings file with AES encryption. With this option, passwords will also be stored in the configuration file. This encryption feature also provides additional security if you are storing your configuration file as a backup.

The standard edition of FileBrowser can be upgraded to FileBrowser Professional via the FileBrowser Professional Bundle.

How to Use FileBrowser Configuration Files

Copy Large Files On and Off your iOS Device using macOS Finder

Connect your iPad/iPhone via a USB cable and use macOS Finder

FileBrowser's "On My iPad/iPhone" location is accessible via macOS Finder, when plugged in via a USB cable, allowing you to copy files to and from with your Mac. Simply drag files from Finder to a another folder in Mac Finder.

Copy Large Files to your iPad or iPhone using a USB Cable

Open mac Finder with your iPad or iPhone connected. Select your iOS Device from the side menu.

Tap the 'Files' tab option on the device menu.

Expand the FileBrowser app section.

Now simply drag the files you wish to copy into another Finder window.

Choose Your Theme

Choose from one of our multiple light and dark themes. Tap "Config", "Preferences" and then "Change Interface Style".

Which version of FileBrowser is for me?
Compare FileBrowser Versions

Unsure which version of FileBrowser is for you? Check out our comparison page.