Quick answer
Drag files onto the Mac’s screen in Workbench, or into a terminal, to send them to the Mac you’re connected to.
On some connections, you can send up to 5 MB at a time in total, no matter how many files you add.
You can’t send folders to a remote Mac. Compress the folder into a .zip first.
Files you drop on the Mac’s screen land in the host Mac’s Downloads folder.
You need Workbench 1.4.1 or later.
How to send files to the host Mac
Drag onto the Mac’s screen
Connect to the host Mac and open the screen view.
Drag one or more files from your device onto the Mac’s screen in Workbench.
Watch the upload panel for progress. You can cancel from there.
Files are saved to the Downloads folder on the host Mac.
Drag into a terminal
Drag files into a remote terminal window. Workbench uploads them to the host Mac and types their paths into the terminal, without pressing Return.
Files sent this way go to a temporary folder on the host Mac. Move any files you want to keep. For more, see Using the terminal in Workbench.
File size limits
On some connections, Workbench can only send 5 MB at a time. That limit covers the whole transfer, not each file.
If you... | What happens |
Drag one 4 MB file | ✅ It uploads |
Drag ten 5 MB files at once | ❌ The whole batch is rejected |
Drag a 4 MB file, then a 2 MB file before the first one finishes | The 4 MB file uploads. The 2 MB file is rejected. |
Wait for one file to finish, then drag the next | ✅ Each one uploads |
Drag one file over 5 MB | ❌ It’s rejected on connections with the limit |
To send several larger files: Drag them one at a time, and wait for each to finish before adding the next.
If you see “Too large for this connection,” you’ve hit the limit. Try fewer or smaller files, or wait for current uploads to finish.
Send a folder
You can’t send folders to a remote Mac. Compress the folder into a .zip file first, then drag the .zip.
You can drag folders into a terminal on the Mac you’re using (a local terminal).
Troubleshooting
“Too large for this connection”
You’ve gone over the 5 MB limit for this connection. Send fewer or smaller files, or wait for current uploads to finish before adding more.
My folder won’t upload
Folders can’t be sent to a remote Mac. Compress it into a .zip first.
I can’t drag files onto the Mac’s screen
Make sure you're running Workbench 1.4.1 or later. Older versions only support dragging files into the terminal.
I can’t find the file I sent
Dragged onto the Mac’s screen: Check the Downloads folder on the host Mac.
Dragged into a terminal: The file is in a temporary folder on the host Mac. Its path was typed into the terminal where you dropped it. Move it if you want to keep it.
My file is over 5 MB
On some connections, files over 5 MB can’t be sent through Workbench. Try compressing the file, or use another way to move it, like AirDrop or a cloud drive.