Fetch Help > Concepts > Droplet Shortcuts

Droplet shortcuts are used to access remote folders from the Finder or the Dock. You can drag files to a droplet shortcut to have Fetch upload those files, or double-click it to open a remote folder in Fetch without needing to enter any connection information.

While using a droplet shortcut is similar to using shortcuts in Fetch, a droplet shortcut may save you more steps or may suit your workflow better. For instance, if there's a server that you regularly upload files to, you could create a droplet shortcut that refers to a folder on that server. Then you can just drag files and folders to the droplet shortcut in the Finder, enter your password if necessary, and Fetch will connect to the server and start uploading your files.

You can also quickly connect to the remote folder to make other changes by double-clicking the droplet shortcut. Fetch will prompt you for a password if necessary, and display the folder's contents in a Fetch window. No navigating is needed in either case.

You create droplet shortcuts with the Save Droplet Shortcut command.

To create a droplet shortcut:

1. Open a connection to the desired server.
2. In the transfer window file list, navigate to the folder you want to upload files to.
3. Do not select anything in the file list if you want to upload files to the folder currently being displayed in the transfer window; otherwise, select a folder you want to upload files to.
4. Choose File > Save Droplet Shortcut.
5. Optionally choose an upload format to use (usually you want the default choice of Automatic) and whether you want Fetch to quit after an upload completes.
6. Enter a name for and choose a location to save the droplet shortcut.
7. Click the Save button.

Once the droplet shortcut is created, just drag files and folders to its icon, and Fetch will open and automatically start uploading the files to the folder represented by the droplet shortcut. If you double-click the droplet shortcut instead, it will open the folder it represents in Fetch, but will not upload anything.

Droplet shortcuts queue uploads. If an upload to the server referred to by the droplet shortcut is already in progress when you drag items to the droplet shortcut, they will be uploaded after the current upload finishes, instead of opening a new transfer window.

You can also create droplet shortcuts by selecting a folder shortcut in the Fetch Shortcuts window or another shortcut list window, and choosing File > Save Droplet Shortcut.

If the connection to the server opened by a droplet shortcut requires a password, you will be prompted for it when you open the droplet shortcut. If you do not want to be prompted for the password, you need to save the password for the connection in your keychain.

You can copy the droplet shortcut to any location on your Macintosh, or put it in your Dock for easy access. You can also copy the droplet to another Macintosh or send it to other users; however, those users must have a copy of Fetch in order to use the droplet shortcut.

You can choose an upload format for the droplet shortcut to use by selecting a format from the Upload format menu when creating the droplet. All items dropped on this particular droplet shortcut will always be uploaded in that format. Usually you want Automatic, the default choice.

You can also choose to have Fetch quit after an upload started by the droplet shortcut completes by checking the Quit Fetch after uploading checkbox when creating the droplet.

If you want to create a double-clickable document that downloads a file, see the shortcut documents help topic.

If you want to save a list of shortcuts to open later in Fetch, but don't want to automatically open what the shortcuts refer to, you can either create a shortcut that is added to the Fetch Shortcuts window, or create a shortcut list document from a shortcut list window.