FolderDeck Manual

1Getting started

FolderDeck is a native file manager that replaces macOS Finder. Reach your favorites and remote connections straight from the menu bar, open several folders side by side in one window, and design the color and imagery of the sidebar and toolbar yourself.

Install · requirements

• macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon (M series) and Intel (Universal Binary)
• App Sandbox compliant — it accesses only the folders you choose, and file paths and names are never sent anywhere.
• Open the downloaded FolderDeck.dmg and drag the app into Applications to finish installing.
• Allow the beta to open — on first launch, macOS may block the beta from installing or running. In System Settings > Privacy & Security > Security, choose “Open Anyway / Allow” for FolderDeck to clear the block.
• Full Disk Access — to browse and manage folders anywhere, turn on FolderDeck.app under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access.

2Folder Deck

A horizontal favorites bar at the top of the window, inspired by the Chrome bookmark bar. Arrange the folders you use most as chips and open them in one click.

• Add · remove · rename — drag a folder in, or manage it from the right-click menu
• Drag to reorder — drag chips to rearrange (with an insertion guide)
• Folder groups — nest folders inside a chip and expand them in a popover
• Per-chip color & text color — set each chip's background and text to system or a custom color
• Overflow button (») — collects items that don't fit when space is tight
• Toggle visibility — ⌘⇧B shows/hides the folder deck
• Backup — export/import favorites and bookmarks as JSON

3Menu bar quick access

Reach favorites and remote connections from the menu bar without opening a window.

• Menu bar popover — click the menu bar icon to summon the favorites list instantly
• Favorite chips — click to open the folder; drag to reorder
• Remote connection chips — expand your saved SFTP/FTP/FTPS connections in the same place
• Visibility setting — turn the menu bar icon on or off in Settings

4Workspaces

Save a whole panel layout and each panel's path, then switch between work modes in one move.

• Save · restore — snapshot the current split layout plus each panel's folder path
• Toolbar widget — the briefcase popover lists workspaces and lets you create or manage them
• Rename · reorder — edit names inline, drag to reorder
• Shortcuts — ⌥1 for the default workspace, ⌥2–⌥9 for the rest
• Auto-restore — relaunch the app and your last workspace's layout and paths come back exactly
• Sidebar section — manage them from the "Workspaces" section at the top of the sidebar (the default is marked with a lock)

5Sidebar

Seven sections whose order, visibility, and appearance you control — a design surface of its own.

Sections

• Workspaces · Favorites · Remote connections (hidden when empty)
• Locations — Home, Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Applications, Library, iCloud Drive, and more
• Recent folders (automatic) · Tags (the 8 standard macOS colors) · Smart folders

Customization

• Reorder sections — drag section headers to rearrange; collapse/expand each section
• Visibility toggles — Settings > Sidebar > "Show Sections"
• Background, opacity & text color — keep system vibrancy or set a custom HEX
• Background image — opacity slider + fit mode (toolbar ratio / sidebar height)
• Width — drag the divider to resize

6Toolbar

Frequently used action buttons, plus the "toolbar as a canvas" customization the site is built around.

Buttons

• Panel layout switch · workspace popover · view mode (icon/list/column/gallery)
• Search · undo · open Terminal · add remote connection

Appearance

• Toolbar background image — opacity slider (0–100%) plus a vertical position slider
• Extend image into the sidebar — the toolbar background flows into the sidebar pixel for pixel
• Background color — a custom color, or match the file panel color

7Tabs

Each panel has its own tabs.

• New · close — ⌘T new tab, ⌘W close tab, drag to reorder
• Independent state — each tab remembers its own path, view mode, and column settings
• Session restore — all tabs are saved into the workspace snapshot and restored on relaunch
• Tab appearance — adjust the active tab outline opacity (0–100%)

8Path bar

A breadcrumb bar that shows your current location at a glance.

• Breadcrumb navigation — click any segment of the path to jump to that folder
• Position — place the path bar at the top or bottom (Settings)
• Connected styling — a single rounded bar with > separators
• Colors — item background and text color, and the bar background (with match-to-toolbar / match-to-panel toggles)
• Collapse long paths (≫) — long paths fold and expand on click; an "up" button sits in the corner

9File panels — multi-split

Open up to six folders at once in a single window. The toolbar's layout button cycles through the configurations below.

• 1 panel — a single panel
• 2 panels — left/right or top/bottom split
• 3 panels — left/center/right or top/middle/bottom
• 4 panels — a 2×2 grid
• 6 panels — a 3×2 grid (the "sextet")

Working across panels

• Drag freely — drag between any panels to move; ⌥-drag to copy
• Independent browsing — each panel keeps its own path, tabs, sorting, and view mode
• Active panel highlight — the panel you're working in is shown clearly
• Split ratios — drag the dividers; proportions persist per window

10Context menu

Right-click a file or folder for actions that fit the situation.

Main items

• Open · Open With · Quick Look (Space) · Get Info (⌘I)
• Rename (Return) · Duplicate (⌘D) · Make Alias (⌘L)
• Copy (⌘C) · Cut (⌘X) · Share (⌘⇧S) · Compress (ZIP)
• Convert image — Quick Convert submenu and a full Convert dialog (images only)
• Tags — apply/remove the 8 colors · Add to Folder Deck (folders)
• Move to Trash (⌘⌫) · Delete Immediately (⌥⌘⌫, with confirmation)
• Reveal in Finder · Download from / Remove from iCloud

11History & undo

"Footprints" — file operations are recorded so you can undo them in one click.

• Multi-level undo — ⌘Z or the toolbar undo button reverses operations one by one, newest first
• Reversible operations — copy, move, paste, duplicate, rename, trash, new folder, alias, compress, image conversion
• Inverse actions — move/trash restore to the original location; copies and creations go to the Trash; renames revert to the previous name
• History panel — a "History" tab in the right sidebar lists operations (newest first) with an undo button
• Safety badges — permanent deletes show "Cannot restore"; reversed items show "Undone"

12Remote connections

Work with FTP-family servers in the same flow as your favorites.

• Protocols — SFTP (default 22) · FTP (default 21) · FTPS (default 990)
• Add a connection — enter name, host, port, account, password (stored in Keychain), path, and notes in a sheet
• Browse — explore remote files in a dedicated browser and drag between local panels
• Transfer queue — progress (size, speed, ETA) with mid-transfer cancel
• Conflict handling — automatic numbering keeps filenames safe and unique
• Save & access — keep connections as sidebar and menu bar chips; passwords managed in Keychain

13Search

Spotlight metadata is a first-class citizen, joined by regex and real-time filters.

• Metadata search — filename, content type, tags, and dates searched live via Spotlight
• Scope — switch between the current folder and the whole Mac
• Type filters — folders, images, video, audio, PDF, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, code/text, apps, archives, custom extension
• Date filters — today, this week, this month, a range, or a specific date
• Regex — toggle "Regex" and enter patterns like ^IMG_, \.pdf$, \d{4} (with example help; falls back to substring on error)
• Live color tags — xattr changes appear instantly as colored badges
• Smart folders — save frequently used search criteria and edit them later

14Image conversion

Convert images right inside the folder — no detour through Preview or other tools.

• Output formats — PNG · JPEG · HEIC · WebP · PDF (WebP shown when the OS supports it)
• Quality — a quality slider (0–100%) for lossy formats, with an estimated size
• Resize · rotate — scale by the longest edge keeping aspect ratio; EXIF rotation applied automatically
• Where to run it — right-click "Quick Convert" (instant) or "Convert…" (full options)
• Batch — convert many images at once with a progress HUD, cancel, and automatic filename numbering
• Undo — conversions are recorded in History and can be reversed in one click

15More features

• Quick Look + Info panel — Space to preview; the right panel shows metadata, permissions, EXIF, and extended attributes
• Color tags — 8 colors (xattr-backed) shown as badges in the list and sidebar
• Finder extension — "Open in FolderDeck" in the Finder context menu
• App-only appearance toggle — set the app to light/dark/system independently of macOS
• First-class Korean — Korean UI on par with English
• URL scheme — folderdeck://
• Stable large-file handling — async operations with progress and cancel, and automatic conflict resolution
• Recent folders — jump back to recently opened folders from the sidebar
• App uninstaller — right-click an app in Applications to remove it safely

16Keyboard shortcuts

Have a question? Reach us at support@folderdeck.com.