How to Connect to SFTP and S3 on a Mac Without macFUSE

Short answer: Finder can't connect to SFTP servers or S3 buckets. The usual workaround, mounting them with macFUSE, means installing a system extension. You can skip it entirely. Install rclone, a free, open-source tool, with Homebrew (brew install rclone). Then use it from the Terminal or through a file manager built on it, such as Folia Files. You can browse, copy and edit remote files without a kernel extension.

This article covers why Finder falls short, the options that avoid macFUSE, and how the two editions of Folia Files handle these connections.

Why Finder can't open SFTP or S3

Finder's Go › Connect to Server… (⌘K) handles a fixed set of protocols: SMB, AFP, NFS, WebDAV and FTP (FTP is read-only in Finder). SFTP isn't on that list, and neither is Amazon S3 or the S3-compatible services such as Backblaze B2, Wasabi, Cloudflare R2 or MinIO. Typing an sftp:// address in Connect to Server won't give you a Finder window.

So "SFTP in Finder" isn't something macOS offers out of the box. You need another tool.

The macFUSE problem

The classic way to get SFTP into Finder is to mount the server as if it were a disk. On macOS, that has traditionally relied on macFUSE (with SSHFS, or with rclone mount). macFUSE has long depended on a kernel extension, and that brings friction:

• Installing it needs an administrator account.
• On Apple silicon Macs, third-party kernel extensions only load after you lower the startup security policy in Recovery mode.
• Major macOS updates can break it until a new version ships.
• On a work Mac managed by an IT department, you may not be allowed to do any of this.

If you just want to open a file on a server, edit it and save it back, macFUSE isn't required. The options below avoid it.

Option 1: the Terminal's built-in sftp and scp

macOS ships with OpenSSH, so you already have sftp and scp:

sftp user@example.com

Inside the session, ls, cd, get file.txt and put file.txt do what you'd expect. To copy a single file in one line:

scp report.pdf user@example.com:/home/user/

This is perfect for a quick transfer. It's tedious for browsing a large tree, and it doesn't help with S3 or cloud storage at all.

Option 2: rclone on the command line

rclone speaks dozens of storage protocols: SFTP, Amazon S3 and S3-compatible services, WebDAV, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and many more. It runs as a normal program, so it needs no kernel extension.

Install rclone with Homebrew

If you don't have Homebrew yet, install it from brew.sh. Then, in Terminal:

brew install rclone

Configure a remote

Run the interactive setup:

rclone config

1. Type n for a new remote and give it a short name, for example myserver.
2. Choose the storage type: sftp for an SSH server, s3 for Amazon S3 or a compatible provider.
3. For SFTP, enter the host, your user name, the port (usually 22) and either a password or the path to your SSH key. For S3, pick the provider and enter the access key, the secret key and the region or endpoint.
4. Accept the defaults for the advanced options unless you know you need them, then quit.

Use it

rclone lsd myserver:            # list folders
rclone ls myserver:/var/www     # list files
rclone copy ~/Desktop/site myserver:/var/www/site

rclone can also mount a remote as a disk without macFUSE: its nfsmount command serves the remote to the NFS client built into macOS. This works well and is scriptable. But it's still the command line: no previews, no drag and drop between two folders, nothing to remind you which remote is mounted where. That's where a graphical front end helps.

Option 3: a file manager that uses rclone

If you search for an "rclone Mac GUI" or an "S3 file browser for Mac", what you usually want is ordinary file browsing. You want to see your servers next to your local folders, then drag, drop, preview and edit.

Folia Files, a native file manager for the Mac, does this in its website edition. It uses rclone behind the scenes for SFTP, S3 and clouds, and mounts them with rclone's nfsmount: no macFUSE and no admin rights. To add one, choose Tools › Connections (Servers and Clouds)… (⌘K), then New Connection. Test Connection checks the details before you save.

Servers appear in the sidebar's Servers section, cloud accounts in Clouds. You browse them in tabs and side-by-side panes like any folder, and copy between a server and a local folder with drag and drop.

A few practical points:

• Network shares need nothing extra. SMB, AFP, NFS, WebDAV and FTP connections work without rclone, as in Finder, so a NAS or a Nextcloud server over WebDAV can sit in the same list as your SFTP server.
• Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and similar services that have their own Mac app need no setup at all. Their folders show up in the Clouds section.
• Remote editing. Open a document from a server in your usual app: Folia Files works on a copy on your Mac and sends it back at every save. The option is in Settings › Files and Network.
• Copies that resume, and a history with Undo. A copy interrupted by the network picks up where it stopped, and every operation is logged. That matters when you move large folders to and from a server.

Website edition vs Mac App Store edition

Folia Files comes in two editions: same app, same price, one-time purchase. For remote connections, they differ, and the difference is clear-cut: SFTP, S3 and direct cloud connections through rclone are built into the website edition only.

	Website edition	App Store edition	App Store + Companion
Network shares (SMB, AFP, NFS, WebDAV, FTP)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Clouds installed with their own app	Yes	Yes	Yes
SFTP, S3 and clouds through rclone	Yes	No	Yes
Folder sync	Yes	No	Yes

Website edition (foliafiles.com): everything is included. Install rclone once with brew install rclone and Folia Files handles the rest.

Mac App Store edition: Apple's sandbox blocks the app from running rclone, so it has no SFTP or S3 on its own. They can be added with Folia Files Companion, a small free app (rclone must still be installed with Homebrew):

1. Download it from foliafiles.com/companion.
2. Move it to your Applications folder.
3. Open it once.

The companion only runs a fixed list of operations, only for Folia Files (it checks the app's signature). It is signed by Wonderlink SL, notarized by Apple, and updates itself. It also restores folder sync and the other sandbox-blocked features.

If Folia Files reports the companion as "Installed, but inactive":

1. Quit Folia Files.
2. Delete any other copies of the companion, for example in Downloads or on the disk image.
3. Open the copy in Applications and click Reactivate.

Purchases don't carry over between editions. If SFTP or S3 is the main reason you want the app, the website edition is the simplest route.

Tips for reliable SFTP and S3 connections

• Use SSH keys rather than passwords for SFTP. Create one with ssh-keygen and add the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server.
• Test first with a simple command. If rclone lsd myserver: works in Terminal, the credentials and the network are fine. If it fails, the error message usually names the problem (wrong host, refused key, missing bucket permission).
• For S3, check the region and endpoint. S3-compatible providers each have their own endpoint address; a wrong one is the most common cause of failed connections.
• Give S3 keys only the permissions they need. A key limited to one bucket is safer than an account-wide key.

FAQ

Can I add SFTP to Finder without macFUSE? Not through Connect to Server, which doesn't support SFTP. rclone nfsmount can mount a server as a disk through macOS's own NFS client, without macFUSE; that's also how Folia Files mounts its rclone connections.

Do I need admin rights to use rclone? rclone itself is an ordinary program and needs no kernel extension. Homebrew's own installer may ask for your password the first time you set it up.

Is rclone free? Yes, it's free and open source.

Does Folia Files work on Intel Macs? Yes. It's a universal app for Apple silicon and Intel, on macOS 14 or later.

You can try every feature, SFTP and S3 included, free for 7 days with no account and no card (download the website edition).