Mount a remote server as a drive on your Mac
Two things, done natively: SSH and SFTP servers mounted as volumes the Finder understands, and a terminal that opens onto the same host with the same host key checks. Everything below is implemented today.
Finder volumes, not a file transfer window
Your remote server appears in the Finder sidebar and behaves like a disk. Open a file straight from any app, drag folders in and out, use Quick Look, use the Open and Save dialogs. Subscribers get full read and write access: create, upload, rename, move and delete, folders included.
Directory listings are paginated 500 entries at a time from a consistent snapshot, so folders with tens of thousands of files stay navigable instead of stalling on a single huge read.
Host keys checked before your password leaves the Mac
SSHMount verifies the server's host key using libssh2's known_hosts implementation — hashed hostnames, wildcards and revoked markers behave the way OpenSSH behaves. The check happens after the handshake and before authentication, so you know who you are talking to before you hand over a password.
A mismatched key always stops the connection. The first time you connect, the app shows you the fingerprint and waits for you to accept it. Already trust some hosts? Import your existing ~/.ssh/known_hosts in one command.
A real SSH terminal, in native windows
Open interactive SSH sessions in native macOS windows that the system groups into native tabs. Run as many sessions against the same host as you need — one tailing a log, one doing the work. Nine built-in themes, custom background and text colours, and adjustable text size that resizes the remote PTY as you go.
Appearance belongs to the window, so you can colour production one way and staging another and never mix them up. Terminal sessions get exactly the same host key verification as mounted volumes, and reconnect automatically with exponential backoff when the network drops.
Writes that don't quietly overwrite someone else
Before overwriting a file, SSHMount checks whether the remote copy changed since the version your edit was based on. If it did, the write is refused and the system is asked to read the file again. Losing someone else's change in silence is worse than reporting a conflict.
Profiles are reorderable, favourites have their own section, and credentials live in the macOS Keychain — never in a plain file on disk. Light, Dark and System themes throughout.
The details, in full
Finder volumes
- SFTP volumes browsable like local disks, from the Finder and from any app that uses the Open and Save dialogs.
- Read and write for subscribers: create files and folders, upload, rename, move, delete — including recursive directory deletion.
- Symbolic links are removed, never followed.
- Directory enumeration paginated 500 entries per page from a consistent snapshot, designed for directories with tens of thousands of files.
- Write conflict detection: if the remote copy changed relative to the version your edit was based on, the file is not silently overwritten — the system is asked to read it again.
- Automatic reconnection with exponential backoff.
- Volumes appear under
~/Library/CloudStorage/and in the Finder sidebar.
Built-in SSH terminal
- Interactive sessions in native macOS windows, grouped into native tabs when the system preference asks for it.
- Several concurrent sessions against the same server, each with its own window identity.
- Nine themes: Basic, Pro Blue, Ocean, Grass, Novel, Man Page, Red Sands, Silver Aerogel, Solid Colors.
- Custom background and text colours, and adjustable text size (⌘+, ⌘−, ⌘0) that resizes the PTY on the server accordingly.
- Appearance belongs to the individual window, which is how you keep production and staging apart.
- “Follow the app appearance” is the default theme.
- Automatic reconnection with exponential backoff, up to three attempts, with the status written inside the terminal.
The app itself
- Light, System and Dark themes, from the toolbar and from Settings. “System” really means no preference, including the automatic switch at sunset.
- Reorderable server profiles, a separate Favourites section, and volume status visible at a glance.
- Mount preflight: the app connects before registering the volume, so a wrong password or a remote path that does not exist surfaces the moment you press Mount — not as an empty volume in the Finder.
- Password fields revealed with a click, hidden by default.
- An Import known_hosts… command that brings the trust already in
~/.ssh/known_hostsinto the shared file. - Universal binary: Apple silicon and Intel.
- Sandboxed, signed, distributed through the Mac App Store.
Your files are already there. Open them.
Stop copying folders back and forth. Mount the server, work in the Finder, keep a terminal open next to it.