We try not to add a setting for every possible configuration option. We’ve gone to great lengths to pick useful default settings and build flexibility into the interface so you don’t have to micro-manage a sea of checkboxes in Settings.

Occasionally we’ll come across a situation where it makes sense to add a hidden preference. Hidden preferences allow us to implement important settings for the small but important minority of users who need them, while keeping UI complexity down for everyone else.

One major problem with hidden preferences: they’re hidden. You won’t discover them on your own, and until now, they haven’t been documented anywhere.

So here are some hidden preferences available in Transmit:

Enable/Disable Functionality

defaults write com.panic.Transmit CopyURLWithoutLogin 0

When copying a remote item’s URL, don’t include the login information (user:password@example.com) in the URL. (Set to 1 to include the login.)

defaults write com.panic.Transmit RendezvousEnabled NO

Prevent Transmit from automatically searching the local network for shared servers (Transmit 4 Only).

defaults write com.panic.Transmit TranscriptLogExpiresAfterDays 7

How many days to keep archived Transcript logs in ~/Library/Application Support/Transmit/Logs/. The default is 7.

defaults write com.panic.Transmit OpenMountedFinderWindow 1

When mounting a Transmit Disk, open a Finder window with the mounted Disk (Set to 0 to disable this).

Override OS Defaults

defaults write com.panic.Transmit AppleLanguages "('en-US')"

Set the language for use in Transmit, while leaving your system language unchanged.

defaults write com.panic.Transmit NSAppSleepDisabled -bool YES

Disable App Nap in Transmit. More info about App Nap.

defaults write com.panic.Transmit NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false

Disable macOS State Restoration for Transmit specifically. This allows you to keep the Close windows when quitting an app setting enabled in System Settings > Desktop & Dock while preventing Transmit from restoring previous windows at launch. Tip: If you only want to this to happen occasionally instead, hold the Shift key while launching Transmit to prevent it from restoring windows during that particular launch.

Extra Logging for Debugging

defaults write com.panic.Transmit UseVerboseLogging 1

Write additional logging to the console, for troubleshooting remote server connections and file transfers.

To set these preferences, launch your favorite Terminal app (or just the Terminal app in the Utilities folder in your Applications), paste in one of the commands listed above, and hit Return.

Like this:

My-iMac:~ panic_user$ defaults write com.panic.Transmit CopyURLWithoutLogin 0
My-iMac:~ panic_user$ █