Can I set up Transmit to automatically open files in an external editor of my choice?

Yes! Open the Files tab of Transmit’s preferences and add your favorite to the Custom Editors list. You can even specify more than one based on the file extension.

You can also set the Double Click Action setting to Edit in External Editor if you don’t want to save files to your local drive.

What if I want to make a quick edit without opening my default editor?

Simply right-click the file and select the option for Edit in Transmit.

Changes from my external editor don’t seem to upload right away. How can I make Transmit upload the changes immediately?

You’ve just discovered a macOS feature called App Nap. It’s designed to save power by ”slowing down“ apps that aren’t in the foreground. Apps are put into a low-power state when they’re minimized or when the app window is entirely hidden behind another app (one common situation being Transmit’s window hidden entirely behind your external editor’s window). This may cause a slight delay when you save your file. Normally, when you save the file in an external editor, the file should upload nearly instantly. If Transmit is in this “App Nap” state, the upload notification may be delayed by a few seconds. As it turns out, the files you save do upload automatically, but the notification you receive might be delayed.

If App Nap is causing issues for you, it can be disabled via terminal command or by NOT hiding Transmit’s window entirely behind another app window– keep it slightly visible at all times. It used to be possible to disable App Nap system wide, but Apple has removed this option in modern versions of macOS.