evoftp: Free SFTP Client for Your Seedbox (Windows, Mac, Linux)

evoftp is our free, open-source SFTP client for seedbox users. It exists for one reason: a normal SFTP
client pulls a file through one connection, and one connection to a server in another country is
usually far slower than your line. evoftp splits every large file across several SSH connections at once
— the same trick as lftp pget — and puts it behind a big blue Download button.
No command line, no setup: open the connection file from your client area and you are in.

It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux from one codebase, is licensed GPL-3.0, and talks plain SFTP over SSH, so
it also works with any other server that gives you SFTP access. This page covers installing it on each platform,
connecting, downloading and uploading, the transfer profiles, and the fixes for the few things that go wrong.

Download evoftp

Not sure which Mac you have? Apple menu → About This Mac: “Chip: Apple M…” is
Apple Silicon, “Processor: Intel…” is Intel. All builds are listed at
neo.myseedbox.site/share/evoftp.

Install on Windows

1. Download evoftp-windows.exe and move it somewhere permanent, for example C:\Tools\evoftp.exe
   or your Documents folder. It runs from wherever it is — if you leave it in Downloads and later clear that
   folder, your .evoftp connection files will stop opening.
2. Double-click it. Windows SmartScreen shows “Windows protected your PC” because the app is
   new and not yet code-signed. Click More info → Run anyway. This only happens once.
3. evoftp opens. On first launch it registers the .evoftp file type and evoftp:// links for your
   user account, so the connection file from your client area opens straight into the app.

Windows Defender may take a few seconds to scan a freshly downloaded, unsigned program. That is normal — the source
code is public and you can build it yourself.

Install on macOS

1. Download the Apple Silicon or Intel zip. Safari usually unzips it for you; otherwise double-click the zip.
2. Drag evoftp.app into your Applications folder.
3. First launch — the app is not notarised by Apple yet, so a plain double-click is refused:
   • macOS 14 Sonoma and earlier: right-click (Control-click) evoftp.app → Open
     → Open in the dialog.
   • macOS 15 Sequoia and newer: double-click once (it says it can’t be opened), then go to
     System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the message about evoftp and click
     Open Anyway. Confirm with your password or Touch ID.

   After that first approval it opens normally.

“evoftp is damaged and can’t be opened” is macOS’s quarantine flag on an unsigned
download, not actual damage. Open Terminal and run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/evoftp.app

then open the app again with the right-click → Open method.

Install on Linux

1. Download evoftp-linux.AppImage.
2. Make it executable and run it:

   chmod +x evoftp-linux.AppImage
   ./evoftp-linux.AppImage

   Most file managers also offer right-click → Properties → “Allow executing as a program”.

3. Optional: to open .evoftp files by double-clicking and get a menu entry, use
   AppImageLauncher, or pick the AppImage as the
   default program for .evoftp files in your file manager.

If it fails with dlopen(): error loading libfuse.so.2, install FUSE 2 (sudo apt install libfuse2;
on Ubuntu 24.04 the package is libfuse2t64; Fedora: sudo dnf install fuse fuse-libs) or skip FUSE with
./evoftp-linux.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run.

Connect to your seedbox

Option A — the connection file from your client area (one click)

1. Log in to your client area and open your
   seedbox service.
2. In the Desktop app row, click Connection file. You get a small file called
   yourname.evoftp containing the server address, your username and password.
3. Double-click it. evoftp opens, saves the server in its sidebar and connects.

You only need the file once — the server stays in the sidebar. If it did not open in evoftp automatically, start
evoftp and use Open .evoftp file… in the Connect dialog.

Option B — type the details in

Click + Add server… in the sidebar and fill in the same details you would use for any SFTP client
— they are on your service page: hostname, port 22, seedbox username and password. Leave Protocol on
SFTP — over SSH (the default, port 22) for your seedbox; the dropdown also offers FTPS and plain FTP for other
servers such as a NAS or a web host, and fills in their usual port (21, or 990 for implicit FTPS) unless you typed your own.
Plain FTP is unencrypted, and evoftp warns you when you pick it.

Press Connect. The server is saved for next time; on Windows and Linux the password is stored encrypted with
your OS login.

Downloading from your seedbox

Your computer is on the left, your seedbox on the right.

1. On the left, open the folder on your PC where the files should land (the left pane starts in the
   Download folder from Settings).
2. On the right, click the files or folders you want. Ctrl-click (⌘-click on a Mac) to pick several,
   Shift-click for a range. Whole folders are fine — every file inside is queued.
3. Click Download — or press Ctrl+D / ⌘+D, drag the selection into the left pane, or double-click a
   single file.

Why it is fast: segments

A single SFTP stream between, say, Europe and Australia may manage only a few MB/s no matter how fast either end is,
because TCP cannot keep enough data in flight over that latency. evoftp splits every large file into pieces and pulls them
over several SSH connections at the same time, writing each straight into place. Small files get one connection; folders
transfer several files at once. The total number of connections is capped so the server never sees a flood. If you have
read our slow FTP/SFTP guide, this is
that fix, built into the app.

Choosing how many connections a download uses

The default, 4 per file, suits most people. For a single huge file over a slow or distant link use more; on a shared
connection use fewer. Click the small arrow next to Download, or right-click the file:

Cancel, resume, retry

• Cancel one transfer with the × on its row, or everything with Cancel all. Cancelling is
  instant.
• Resume: a cancelled or interrupted download leaves a tiny filename.evoftp-part next to the
  partial file. Download the same file into the same folder again and it continues from where it stopped; nothing is
  re-downloaded. The sidecar disappears when the file completes.
• Retry (the circular arrow) appears on a row that failed or was cancelled; Clear finished
  tidies the list.

Uploading to your seedbox

The same thing in reverse: select files on the left, then click Upload (Ctrl+U / ⌘+U)
or drag them into the right pane. You can also drop files straight from your desktop or file manager onto the seedbox pane.

Adding a torrent: drop the .torrent file into your seedbox’s downloads/watch
folder — rTorrent picks it up within seconds and starts it, without opening ruTorrent. See
Adding a torrent to your seedbox for the other ways.

Also available on the seedbox side: New folder (toolbar), Rename… and
Delete (right-click). Delete asks first and cannot be undone.

Settings and transfer profiles

Click the gear (top right). Set your Download folder, then pick the profile that matches your connection
— the one setting worth a moment’s thought.

Rule of thumb: if the sidebar speed is far below what your line can do, try Long distance. If it is already
at your line’s limit, more connections will not help.

Keyboard shortcuts

Troubleshooting

“Login failed — check the username and password”

The password is your seedbox (SFTP / ruTorrent) password, which can differ from your client-area password. Copy it from
your service page, or download the connection file again — it always carries the current one. To fix a saved server,
right-click it in the sidebar → Edit….

“Connection timed out” or “ECONNREFUSED”

Check the hostname is exactly the one on your service page and the port is 22. If a firewall at work or
school blocks SSH, try another network or a phone hotspot. Several wrong passwords in a row temporarily block your IP
address on the server — wait a while, or open a ticket and we will clear it.

Downloads are slow

Open Settings, choose Long distance and test with one large file while watching the sidebar speed. If a
single file is slow but several files together are fast, your ISP is limiting per-connection speed — more segments is
exactly the fix. Make sure nothing else on your PC (a VPN, a torrent client, cloud backup) is using the line. For the wider
picture see why SFTP downloads are slow.

A download stopped at 99% or the file is smaller than it should be

Download it again into the same folder — evoftp resumes and finishes it. If it fails repeatedly, the file on the
seedbox may still be growing (a torrent still downloading); wait until it is complete in ruTorrent.

Double-clicking the .evoftp file does not open evoftp

Windows: run evoftp-windows.exe once from its permanent location; that registers the file type.
If you moved the exe, run it once from the new place. macOS: right-click the file → Open With → evoftp
(tick “Always Open With”). Linux: right-click → Open With → choose the AppImage. Or start
evoftp and use Open .evoftp file… in the Connect dialog.

Frequently asked questions

Is evoftp free? Does it work with other seedbox providers?

Yes and yes. It is free, open source (GPL-3.0) and speaks SFTP over SSH — and, since 0.2.0, FTPS and plain FTP — so it
works with any server that gives you SFTP or FTP access: another seedbox, a NAS, a web host. The one-click connection file
is an EvoSeedbox convenience.

Is this FTP or SFTP?

SFTP by default — your seedbox connection goes through SSH on port 22, encrypted, and that is the one to use. Since
0.2.0 the Protocol dropdown in the Connect dialog also offers FTPS (FTP over TLS, port 21, or implicit on 990)
and plain FTP for other servers. FTPS certificates are pinned on first connection, like an SSH host key: if a server’s
certificate changes later, evoftp refuses to connect until you edit the server and clear the pinned certificate. Plain FTP
sends your password and files unencrypted — evoftp warns you, so prefer FTPS where it is offered. Segmented downloads
and resume work the same on all of them; uploads are single-stream everywhere. If you want the background on the
protocol, read the SFTP setup guide.

Where is my password stored?

In the app’s own settings folder. On Windows and Linux it is encrypted with your OS login (Windows DPAPI / your
keyring). On macOS the current unsigned build stores it in the app’s folder without the Keychain; a Keychain-backed
build will follow once the app is signed. If that matters to you, leave the password field empty and type it when
connecting.

How does it compare to FileZilla or lftp?

FileZilla transfers several files at once but never splits one file, so a single large download is stuck at
one connection’s speed. lftp’s pget splits files but lives in a terminal. evoftp does what lftp does
with FileZilla’s ease. Our file-transfer chooser
lays out when each tool is the right one.

Does it work over a VPN?

Yes, but a VPN often adds latency and caps per-connection speed — choose Long distance, or pause the
VPN while transferring if you can.

How do I update it?

evoftp checks for a new version each time it starts (it fetches one small file from our download folder; nothing about
you is sent). When there is one you get this dialog. Download opens the new build in your browser —
replace the old file or app with it; your servers and settings are kept. Later asks again next start;
Skip this version stays quiet until the one after. To check by hand: gear icon →
Check for updates.

How do I remove it?

Delete the exe / app / AppImage. Saved servers and settings live in %APPDATA%\evoftp (Windows),
~/Library/Application Support/evoftp (macOS) or ~/.config/evoftp (Linux); delete that folder too for a
clean slate.

evoftp help centre

One page per task, in the order you will need them.

Getting started

• Installing evoftp on Windows
• Installing evoftp on macOS
• Installing evoftp on Linux
• Connecting with the .evoftp connection file
• Adding a server by hand
• Managing saved servers

Using evoftp

• The evoftp window explained
• Navigating folders
• Selecting files and folders
• Downloading files and folders
• Choosing how many connections a download uses
• Why evoftp splits files into segments
• Cancelling, retrying and clearing transfers
• Resuming an interrupted download
• Uploading files and folders
• Adding a torrent by dropping it in the watch folder
• Renaming, creating folders and deleting

Settings and housekeeping

• Settings: download folder and notifications
• Transfer profiles: Balanced, Long distance, Fast fiber, Gentle
• Advanced tuning: segments, files, connections, window
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Where evoftp stores servers, settings and passwords
• Updating evoftp
• Uninstalling evoftp

Troubleshooting

• Login failed — check the username and password
• Connection timed out and ECONNREFUSED
• Downloads are slow
• Download stuck at 99% or file smaller than expected
• The .evoftp file doesn’t open evoftp
• Windows protected your PC and “evoftp is damaged”
• AppImage won’t start (FUSE)
• evoftp FAQ