FileBrowser frequently asked questions

How to transfer my settings from FileBrowser to FileBrowser Pro.

Please follow the steps detailed here.

How to copy files and folders from iPhone to iPad .

Please follow the steps detailed here.

How do I setup Wasabi with FileBrowserGo or FileBrowser Professional.

This is covered in Wasabi's detailed Guide here.

iCloud doesn't appear when it's enabled.

iCloud has to be enabled per app in the Settings app/iCloud Drive page.

What's the easiest way to get connected to my shared folders?

• Hold your iPad horizontally and tap FileBrowser's "Scan" icon at the bottom of the screen.
• Then tap the Refresh icon at the top of the screen and FileBrowser will start to scan your network for shared folders.
• To connect to a discovered location, tap on it and FileBrowser will ask you for your username or password.

Why cant I see folder of other apps on my iPad

Each app on an iPad/iPhone is held separately and iOS does not permit an app to directly access the storage of other apps.

Use the "Share File..." feature to pass files from one app to another.

Why cant I see my music on my iPad in FileBrowser

Apple restrict how you can access your music on your iPad or iPhone. Use the built-in Music app to play your Apple Music or Synced Music.

If you wish to stream your music from your music collection on a computer or network drive please try our other app MusicStreamer.

How do I pass a file to another app?

• Find the file you wish to copy
• Tap the file context menu and choose "Share File..."
• A list of apps registered to handle this file type will appear.

To see more on this click here.

Why don't I see image thumbnails?

This is a preference you need to turn on, under Config - > Storage/Thumbnails.

How do I edit a file in another app ?

If you want to edit office docs such as Word, Excel or Powerpoint follow our simple guide.

If you want to edit a file in another app, simply tap the 'file context menu' and select 'Share File' choose the app you wish to edit with.

What is On My iPad/iPhone in FileBrowser?

This is covered in our User Guide here.

On My iPad is a local folder inside FileBrowser. You can access files and folders in it from other apps using the Files app's 'On My iPad' location and choosing FileBrowser.

How do I delete a file or folder?

This is covered in our User Guide here.

How do I copy multiple files in one go?

This is covered in our User Guide here.

What video formats does FileBrowser support?

FileBrowser can stream all the video formats supported by the iPad/iPhone iOS including:

• M4V (without DRM)
• MP4
• MOV (some but not all kinds)
• 3GP
• 3G2
• AVI (some types, such as those captured on a mobile phone)

If FileBrowser cannot play the Movie file See here.

What audio formats does FileBrowser support?

Supported audio formats are

• AAC
• MP3
• AIFF/AIF
• WAV
• M4A
• M4B
• M4P

How do I play video files that FileBrowser can't display?

FileBrowser can stream the following video formats to other apps that are able to play them. The following list of video formats can be streamed to other apps.

To use this feature:

• Tap the file context menu next to the filename and select "Stream To Another App".
• If you have GoodPlayer installed, you will be given the option to stream directly to them.
• For other video apps, tap "More Options..." and then "Copy URL".
• Then switch to your video player app and find the place where it accepts an Internet URL and tap Paste in that field to give it the URL from FileBrowser.

FileBrowser can stream the following files to other apps:

• MPG
• MPEG
• WMV
• DIVX
• FLV
• MKV
• MOD
• TS
• VOB
• OGG
• RM
• RMVB

What image formats does FileBrowser support?

FileBrowser supports display of the following image file formats

• PNG
• JPG/JPEG
• BMP
• GIF
• TGA
• TIF/TIFF
• CR2
• NEF
• DNG
• CRW
• KDC
• MRW
• RW2
• RAW
• ORF
• ARW
• RAF
• SR2
• PEF
• 3FR
• ERF

How do I connect to my shared drives whilst away from my network?

Please try our External Access guide

Remote Access to AVM Routers in Germany

AVM routers are very common in Germany. These routers block TCP Port 445 port-forwarding, which means that SMB port-forwarding from the Internet cannot be used. However, they provide a built-in VPN server which is a much better way to connect your iPad or iPhone over 3G to your home network. The following links detail how to configure the VPN server on the router and configure your iPhone or iPad VPN client to connect to it.

Router VPN-Setup: Read More
Iphone/iPad-Setup: Read More
MacOS: Read More

Why can't I see folders of other apps on my iPad/iPhone?

Each app on an iPad/iPhone is held separately and iOS does not permit an app to directly access the storage of other apps. Use the "Share File..." feature to pass files from one app to another.

Photo Library and Location Services

Location data is embedded within the Image file itself, so iOS enforces the rule that to access photos, an app must be enabled for location services.

FileBrowser doesn't enable GPS or other location features (the 'compass needle' icon never appears in the top status bar) however the iOS APIs we need to use to access photo library data don't work unless location services are enabled.

Audio or Video stutters when streaming

Some customers have reported stuttering whilst playing audio and video files. Customers have reported that this problem goes away after rebooting their iPad. If this doesn't resolve the problem, please check your WiFi signal strength.

FileBrowser not connecting to WD MyCloud NAS

WD MyCloud NAS drives need to be configured to use SMB1 instead of the default SMB2 to permit FileBrowser to connect to them. This setting can be found in the WD MyCloud admin UI under SETTINGS>Network>Windows Services.

I can't connect to my NAS drive

Some NAS drives require FileBrowser's "Compatibility Mode" setting to be switched on. This setting can be found in the "Advanced Settings" section of the machine config page. Your NAS drive may also need FileBrowser's "Enable NetBIOS" setting to be switched on.

Western Digital NAS drives

The most recent firmware on WD NAS drives require FileBrowser's "Compatibility Mode" to be switched OFF.

Connecting to NAS drives running old firmware

We have had a number of customers report a problem where they are unable to connect to their NAS drive and every username/password is rejected. This has been tracked down to these NAS drives running a very old version of Samba (3.0.10). FileBrowser version 1.7 and above now includes a "Compatibility Mode" option in the Advanced section of the machine settings page. Setting this to "ON" will allow connections to NAS drives such as these.

How do I speed up file transfers to a Windows PC?

If the file copy rate from a Windows machine to FileBrowser is 450KB/s or less, this may be improved by modifying the registry. This slow speed is due to the SMB protocol requiring a number of round-trips to the server for each chunk of the file, combined with the default behaviour of Windows which is to use a small buffer, requiring many more round trips to get the data.

The Microsoft article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223140 documents how to add a "SizReqBuf" entry in the registry (we set it to 65535 decimal) to allow a buffer of 65535 bytes to be used. This is the largest value possible and in our case allowed the transfer rate increase to over 2.5MB/sec. Some FileBrowser users have informed us that this setting allowed their iPad 4 to transfer faster than 5MB/s.