How to Browse, Edit and Transfer Files over SFTP on iPhone

The problem

Sometimes monitoring isn’t enough: you need to grab a log file to read properly, change one line in a config, or push a corrected file. Doing that with a terminal on a phone means cat, nano on a tiny keyboard and scp from somewhere else. A separate file-transfer app means a second login for every server.

What the SFTP browser does

It uses the same SSH login as your dashboard and terminal, so there’s nothing extra to set up.

• Navigate: Root, Home, Parent, or Go to Folder (an absolute path such as /var/log, or ~).
• New Folder, Upload File, Rename, Delete. Deleting a folder asks for confirmation.
• Open a file to see its info and a preview. Quick Look handles images and PDFs. Binary files show “preview unavailable”.
• Edit opens a code editor with syntax highlighting. Save writes it back.
• Download / Share hands the file to the iOS share sheet.
• Progress and resume: transfers show progress, and an interrupted upload can be resumed.

Typical jobs

1. Read a big log: browse to /var/log, open the file and look at it, or download it and share it with a colleague.
2. Fix a config: open the file, Edit, change a line, Save. Then restart the service from the terminal.
3. Push a file: Upload File from your phone’s Files.

Be careful

• Editing live config files is risky. A typo can stop a service from starting. Make a copy first (rename it) or have a way back in.
• Deleting is real. There’s no trash on the server.
• You act as your SSH user. You can only do what that user’s permissions allow.
• Premium. SFTP is part of Premium, as are attachments in the compose bar that use it.

FAQ

Can I edit files? Yes. Open a file and tap Edit to use the built-in code editor, which has syntax highlighting.

Can it preview images and PDFs? Yes, with Quick Look. Binary files can’t be previewed.

Are uploads resumable? Uploads show progress, and an interrupted transfer offers to resume.

Is it free? SFTP is a Premium feature.