External Applications

When you double-click on one of the rows on the main dialog, FreeFileSync opens the operating system's file browser by default. On Windows it calls explorer /select, "%item_path%", on Linux xdg-open "%item_folder%" and on OS X open -R "%item_path%".

You can customize this behavior and integrate other external applications into FreeFileSync: Navigate to Menu → Tools → Global settings: Customize context menu and add or replace a command. The first entry is executed when double-clicking a row on main grid or pressing ENTER while all other entries can be accessed via the context menu shown after a right mouse click. The following macros can be used:

%item_path%     - full file or folder name
%item_folder%   - folder part only
%item2_path%    - Counterpart of %item_path% on the opposite grid
%item2_folder%  - Counterpart of %item_folder% on the opposite grid

Examples:

• Start visual difference tool:
  "C:\Program Files\WinMerge\WinMergeU.exe" "%item_path%" "%item2_path%"
   

• Show file in Windows Explorer:
  explorer /select, "%item_path%"
   

• Open file in associated application:
  cmd /c start "" "%item_path%" or simply "%item_path%"
   

• Open console dialog:
  cmd /k cd /D "%item_folder%"
   

Note
You need to protect macros with quotation marks if they can resolve to a file path with space characters.