Files · Basalt Docs

Browse, upload, download, copy, move and rename everything on the drive, from any device.

Files is the whole drive, folder by folder, exactly as it is on the host. Everything else in Basalt, from the library to Photos, is a view of these same files.

Browse and search

Open a folder to go in; the path along the top takes you back up. On a computer, Backspace goes up a folder too.
Recent shows what you opened lately, and Starred what you starred, on every device you use.
On a computer, Ctrl K searches the drive and jumps to any section.
Hidden files stay hidden unless you turn on Show hidden files in Settings.

Changes on the host arrive straight away. A file added, renamed or deleted on the host, by Basalt or by anything else, shows on every connected device at once.

Choose several

On a computer: drag a box around them, or hold Ctrl and click each one. Ctrl A chooses everything in the folder.
On a phone or tablet: long-press one, then tap the others.

Upload

On a computer: drag files or whole folders from your desktop onto the folder you want, or right-click and choose Upload files here….
On a phone or tablet: tap the add button in a folder, then Photos and videos, Files or A whole folder. You can also share to Basalt from any other app, such as your gallery, and choose where it goes.

Uploads keep going while your phone’s screen is off, and every file is checked when it arrives, so it is exactly what you sent.

Download

Choose Download… on a file or a selection. On a computer, you choose where it goes. On a phone, it lands in the phone’s Download folder, and keeps going with the screen off.

Copy, move, rename and delete

Right-click on a computer, or long-press on a phone, for everything you can do with a file:

Action	On a computer
Cut, Copy, then Paste into folder	`Ctrl` `X`, `Ctrl` `C`, `Ctrl` `V`
Duplicate
Rename…	`F2`
Delete	`Delete`
New folder
Properties
Refresh the folder	`F5`

Copying and moving happen on the host itself, so even large folders move quickly, without passing through your device.

Deleting removes the file from the drive, just as deleting it on the host would. The host has no recycle bin for files deleted from Basalt.

Read-only devices

A device the host made read only can browse, play and download, but not change anything: upload, move, rename and delete are not offered. See Devices and access.

When the drive is unplugged

If the host’s drive is unplugged or switched off, every device says so rather than showing an empty folder. Plug it back in and it is shared again, with nothing to redo.