5-minute Read

Welcome to FilePane 2.0

FilePane is a macOS menu-bar utility that turns drag-and-drop into a command bar. Start dragging any file, folder, image, PDF, text or link - and a drop area appears next to your cursor. Drop it and it becomes an island of actions built for its type. Every action is one key or one click. No Finder round-trips, no leaving the app you're in.

Drop area — appears when you drag

Nothing lives on your screen until you need it. The moment you start dragging, a small drop disc fades in near your cursor (or wherever you've told it to appear). Drop anything on it - files, folders, images, PDFs, links or selected text from any app.
Drag from any app — the disc appears, drop, done.

Prefer a shortcut? ⌃F summons the drop area anywhere, ⌃⇧F acts on whatever's on your clipboard. Files already selected in Finder? ⌃⌥F opens the actions bar for exactly those files, ⌃⌥S puts them on the Shelf. Selected text works too: right-click ▸ Services ▸ Show Text in FilePane. No dragging at all.

The actions island — built around your file

On drop, the area becomes a compact actions bar with your file at the centre. Actions adapt to the type:
  • Images - resize, crop, rotate, flip, convert, compress, stitch together, watermark, markup, merge-to-PDF, OCR to searchable PDF, set as wallpaper
  • Video & audio - trim, split by chapters/timecodes or merge selected chapters into one file, extract audio, subtitles and chapter lists, watermark videos with logo or text
  • PDFs - compress, convert to images, merge, split by pages or parts, watermark, OCR, print
  • Text - word count and export
  • Links - web-page capture, article extraction, download, QR code
  • Anything - zip, share, copy path, rename, put in folder, move, trash, put on the Shelf, checksum, wipe metadata safely (including MS Office files)

Keyboard-first — every action has a key

Keys 1–9 fire the actions specific to your file; Q W E R T Y cover the common ones across every type; ⌫ trashes, esc steps back. They're printed right on the bar, so there's nothing to memorise. Prefer the mouse? Everything is also a single click.

1–9 Type-specific actions — resize an image, compress a PDF, capture a page
Q W E R T Y Common actions, same position for every file type
⌫ Move to Trash
esc Step back / dismiss
⌃F / ⌃⇧F Summon the drop area / act on the clipboard
⌃⌥F / ⌃⌥S Act on the files selected in Finder / put them on the Shelf
⌃S Show the Shelf
= then 1–9 Run a Chain
⇧↩ Run the action and put the result on the Shelf
An image lands — the bar builds itself around it.

Destinations — file it where it belongs

Keep a list of your favourite folders - Desktop, Documents, Downloads, or any folder you add - and move or copy a dropped file into any of them with a single number key.
Move, share, copy path — the common cluster is always in the same place.

Hold ⌥ to flip between move and copy on the fly. ⇧ + a number drills into subfolders — create a new folder on the spot, or drop straight into the folder you're browsing.

Images and PDFs, without the app

Convert between PNG, JPEG, HEIC, WebP, AVIF, TIFF and BMP or turn images into a PDF at the DPI you choose. Crop, rotate, flip, resize and mark up in a built-in editor with undo/redo.

SVG and AI vector graphics convert to standard image formats too.

Merge several images or PDFs into one document - reorder and rotate the pages, preview any page full-size with Quick Look, then save. Compress a heavy PDF, split it into images or PDF parts, print - all straight from the drop.

Turn scans and photos of documents into searchable, copyable PDFs with on-device OCR - nothing leaves your Mac. Stamp a logo, seal or text watermark onto images, PDF pages and video and drag it exactly where you want it.
A PDF drop: convert pages to images, pick DPI, combine — then file it with one key.

Continued flow — keep working, no re-drag

A small "⌄" button beside Convert / Apply runs the action and drops the result straight back onto the bar as your new subject. Resize → convert → mark up → share, all in one visit. Nothing gets lost: walk away mid-flow and the result is saved automatically — to your Save-to folder, next to the original, or into Downloads — with a small "Saved" confirmation.
Showcase: drop image, resize, convert to Web archive - done. Never leaving the actions bar

Shelf - a parking spot for files in motion

Press ⌃S and a floating tray appears. Drop files on it now, drag them out when you land - in a folder, an email, a chat. Files stay on the Shelf across restarts until you drag them out and dragging out moves them, so nothing is left behind. Press ⌘M to tuck it into a slim tab at the screen edge; drag a file over the tab and it pops back open.

"Drop here" area also has a Shelf activating pill above it. You can also drop files on it to add them to Shelf.

Every action that makes a file - Zip, Resize, Convert, Merge PDF, Compress, OCR, Watermark - has a “Shelf the result” checkbox and ⇧↩ runs the action and shelves the output in one stroke.
Collect files from anywhere, carry them out in one drag.

No drag needed: select files in Finder and press ⌃⌥S to put them on the Shelf, or ⌃⇧S to shelve your clipboard. The ⋯ menu on the Shelf lists every shortcut.

Chains — one key, many actions

A Chain is a saved recipe: Resize to 300x300 › Convert to WebP › Archive to Zip > Send to Icons Folder. Build it once in Settings ▸ Chains. From then on, whenever you drop a matching file, a new = cell appears in the bar - press = then the chain’s number and every step runs in order.

Each chain decides where its result lands: next to the original, on the Shelf or a fixed folder. Chains are per file type, so image chains never clutter the bar when you drop a PDF.
Press = then a number — three steps, one keypress.

Chains export as .filepane files you can send to a colleague — import them in the same Settings tab. Grab ready-made starter chains in Tips & Tricks.

Privacy — wipe metadata before you share

Strip identifying metadata from images, video, audio, PDFs and MS Office files in one action - GPS location, device info and more. The Share action can wipe metadata first, so nothing personal leaves your Mac by accident.
Wipe all data or select only the one that bothers you

Video & audio — trim, split and extract

Trim video and audio in the most popular formats or split a file by its chapters/timecodes — pick only the chapters you need and each becomes its own file, or merge the selected ones into a single file. Near-instant and lossless.

Extract pulls the pieces out of any media file without re-encoding: the soundtrack as .m4a, subtitles as .srt or .vtt, a muted video-only copy, cover art, lyrics — even the chapter list as YouTube-ready timestamps.
Trim mp4, mp3, m4a and other media formats. Split or merge chapters - only the ones you need

Drop a link — capture, extract, download

Drop a URL to capture the whole web page as a PDF, PNG or JPEG - full page, paginated or just the first screen. Want the words without the clutter? Article PDF & Markdown pull out just the article, reader-mode clean.
One bar for the web: capture, extract, QR, clean links.

Page behind a login? Open it in a FilePane window, sign in, dismiss the pop-ups — then capture exactly what you see. A video link? One key sends it straight to PullTube.

Alter-mode for even quicker last-used or alternative actions

While you hold ⌥ (Option) over the action bar and each action flips to its faster variant — one press, no panel:
a) Zip → Quick Zip (your default settings, saved right next to the file)
b) Share → AirDrop (straight to the AirDrop sheet)
c) Copy Path → Copy File (paste the actual file into Finder, Mail or any other app)
d) Move → repeat your last destination in one click (remembers whether you move or copy)
e) Print → Print Now (default printer, no dialog)
f) Trash → Destroy (securely wipe a file so it can't be recovered)

Images & PDFs remember your last choices too: Quick Resize, Quick Convert, Quick Compress and one-click Wallpaper setting.
For links: copy a QR, save to Desktop and more — all without opening a panel.

Actions with no shortcut simply dim, so you always see what ⌥ can do.

Share — to any app, even WhatsApp

Drop, press a number, done. The share list includes every macOS share destination for the file type — AirDrop, Mail, Messages, Notes and many others.

WhatsApp for Mac has no system sharing, so FilePane adds it: pick WhatsApp and a small card with your files appears next to the WhatsApp window. Drag them into any chat - they stay on the card, so you can send them to several chats. Shared text and links open WhatsApp with the message ready to send.

Any app can get a Sharing Card like this in Settings ▸ Sharing. Sharing to Mail normally starts a new email - with a Mail card you drag the files straight into an open reply instead. Sharing cards are app specific, stick exactly to app window you are working with and flows its behaviour.

Choose which share options you see, and their order, in Settings ▸ Sharing — the number keys follow your order. Hide one on the spot with the gear button in the Share panel.

Preview, pin and edit actions in the bar

Click the file “pin token” to pin the bar and drag it anywhere on screen. Choose where the drop zone appears, keep the bar always pinned, show file info (name, size, type) above the actions. Set it once in onboarding, change it any time in Settings.

Double-click the round file preview to Quick Look it. Drag it out to drop the file anywhere on the screen.

Use the dedicated Actions Bar settings tab to pick exactly which actions show up for each type, or just right-click anywhere on the actions bar for a quick edit.
Want the hidden stuff? FilePane Tips & Tricks collects the shortcuts and power features most people miss.
I hope you enjoy using FilePane and it helps you boost your workflow. Please share your feedback and features requests with me at support@mymixapps.com

Filepane for Mac

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MacOS 13 or higher
1 license = 2 Macs
Tahoe Compatible
Filepane for iMac