Moving your first file takes about a minute.
Install it, point one pane at a server, and drag something across. This page covers the whole on-ramp — installing, connecting, and the handful of dual-pane habits worth knowing on day one.
Install
Windows
Run the .exe installer — Start Menu shortcut, Add/Remove Programs entry, a real uninstaller. A portable .zip is also available if you'd rather not install anything, though a saved password still goes through Windows' own Credential Manager either way, not a file this app writes.
macOS
Apple Silicon only. The build is unsigned, so the very first launch needs a right-click → Open to get past Gatekeeper — every launch after that is normal.
Linux
Four options: .deb, .rpm, a plain .tar.gz binary, or an AppImage if your distro's Qt6/libssh2 versions don't line up with what the packages expect.
Make a connection
ZephyrFTP opens on your own files, in both panes — it's a plain local file manager until you tell it otherwise. To connect a pane to a server, you have two starting points:
Quick Connect
Type into the toolbar row — a full user@host or a URL like ftps://[email protected]:2121 works, or fill in the fields separately. Press Enter. This always targets the right pane and only supports a password, not a private key.
Either pane's own connect button
Click the small icon in a pane's own path bar for that pane's Connect / Site Manager / Disconnect menu. This is the one to use for a private key, or to connect the left pane to a server — the toolbar shortcut only ever targets the right one.
The first-connection prompt
The very first time you connect to a given server, you'll see its host key (SFTP) or certificate (FTPS) and be asked to confirm it — the same trust-on-first-use model real SSH clients use. Confirm it once; if that fingerprint ever changes on a later connection, you get a loud warning instead of a silent risk.
Save it for next time
Site Manager keeps a list of servers, organized into folders, each with its own starting directory. Tick "Save password" and it goes to your OS's own credential store — never a file this app writes.
The dual-pane habits
Drag, drop, or double-click
Drag a file between panes, or double-click it, to queue a transfer in that direction. Works the same whether either side is local or remote.
Everything moving lives in the Transfers dock
Docked under the panes by default. Active, Completed, and Failed are separate tabs, so a finished batch never buries what's still going.
Keyboard shortcuts work like a file manager
Delete to delete, F2 to rename, F5 to refresh, Ctrl+A to select all, Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V to copy a selection to the other pane.
Layout is remembered
Window size, both docks — moved, resized, or closed — come back exactly as you left them. Nothing to enable.
That's the whole on-ramp. For the complete picture — every feature, exactly how it behaves, and what's deliberately not built yet — the next three pages go deep.