Background Transfers Queue List
On both interfaces there is an optional component at the very bottom, queue list of background transfers. To show/hide the list use the main menu (View > Queue in Explorer interface, Options > Queue in Commander interface). The queue list have special view state Hide when Empty. This is the default state and makes the queue list visible, when there is some background transfer in progress or scheduled, only.
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- Information Displayed in the Queue List
- Interacting with Background Transfers
- Managing the Queue
- File List
Information Displayed in the Queue List
Each entry in the queue list represents one background transfer (not a file to transfer).
There are three groups of transfers in the following order:
- Completed transfers are optionally shown first in gray color. You can configure the period they show or turn them off completely in preferences. You can also delete all completed transfers manually.
- Transfers in progress show second. Each multi-file (batch) transfer in progress has two or more lines, where the first line shows overall batch progress, while the others lines are used to display information about files being transferred.
- Waiting transfers show last.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Operation | Icon representing the operation. Right-to-left arrow for downloads, Left-to-right icon for uploads. If the background transfer needs interaction with the user, there is an additional icon representing the type of interaction (confirmation, error message or prompt) and both icons flash. |
| Source | Path to file if one file only is being transferred. Path to source directory if multiple files are being transferred. |
| Destination | Destination directory of the transfer including operation mask. |
| Transferred | Total number of bytes already transferred (for all files). Empty for waiting transfers. |
| Time | Estimated time till end of transfer.1 Empty for waiting transfers. |
| Progress | Status of transfer. Percentage indicator for ongoing transfers. Query, Error or Prompt for transfers that need interaction with the user. Waiting… for waiting transfers. Suspended for suspended transfers. Completed for completed transfers. |
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For ongoing transfers information being shown in the other lines is following:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Operation | None. |
| Source | Path to file being transferred. |
| Destination | Empty. |
| Transferred | Number of bytes transferred for current file. |
| Speed | Average speed of the transfer. |
| Progress | The same as in the first line, only the percentage indicator, if shown, is for the current file only. |
Interacting with Background Transfers
Sometime the background transfer needs to interact with the user. For example to confirm resuming the files transfer, to show an error message or to ask for a password.
There are two interaction modes. In the default mode, the message or an input box pops up whenever any of the background transfers need to interact (but only when the main connection is idle). Alternatively the box may not pop up automatically. Instead the respective line on queue list may visually indicate that the transfer needs an interaction. The user must double-click the line or choose a respective command from queue context menu (or toolbar) to make the box pop up (see Managing the Queue). To switch to alternative mode uncheck Automatically popup prompts of background transfers when idle on Background page of Preferences dialog.
Some prompts of background transfers may be avoided altogether. To disable overwrite confirmations (and similar prompts) check No confirmations on transfer options dialog. To avoid background transfers asking for a password, WinSCP keeps the main session password in memory by default and reuses it for background transfer connections.
Managing the Queue
You can manage scheduled transfers using context menu of the queue list or using optional toolbar. To show the toolbar go to View > Queue > Toolbar in Explorer interface, Options > Queue > Toolbar in Commander interface.
Commands available in the menu (or on the toolbar) are:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Show query/error/prompt | Available for ongoing transfers only that needs to interact with the user. |
| Execute now | Available for waiting transfers only. Use to instruct WinSCP to allow additional temporary connection for this transfer despite the maximal background transfers count limit. |
| Suspend | Available for ongoing transfers only. Use to temporarily suspend the transfer (e.g. to free bandwidth). |
| Resume | Available for suspended transfers only. Use to resume suspended transfer. |
| Cancel | Remove waiting transfer from queue or abort ongoing transfer. Keyboard shortcut is Del. |
| Speed | Limits speed of ongoing transfer. The limit is in KB/s. To remove speed limit, set it to “Unlimited”. |
| Move up/down | Available for waiting transfers only. Use to change priority/order of the waiting transfers. |
| Process Queue | Explicitly starts queue processing, if its processing is disabled by default. |
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In submenu All you will find additional commands affecting all transfers in particular state:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Suspend All | Use to temporarily suspend all ongoing transfers. |
| Resume All | Use to resume all suspended transfers. |
| Cancel All | Use to remove all waiting transfers and abort all ongoing transfers. |
| Delete All Completed | Use to remove all completed transfers. Particularly useful, when completed transfers are configured to show forever. |
In submenu Once Empty or on the queue toolbar you can choose action to do once the queue is completed (all scheduled transfers are finished). Note that the action setting is cleared whenever you switch sessions. Also the action will not be done, if WinSCP is not idle (i.e. there is some dialog box opened, etc.).
File List
You can display a complete list of files included in a queued transfer. To show the list go to View > Queue > File List in Explorer interface, Options > Queue > File List in Commander interface). The option is also available in the queue context menu.
The files there were already transferred (or skipped) or are currently being transferred are displayed in a gray color.
- Estimated time is shown only when no directory was selected for transfers or when transfer setting Calculate total size is enabled. Total time already spent on transfer is shown otherwise.Back