# 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, "%local_path%", on Linux xdg-open "%folder_path%" and on macOS open -R "%local_path%". To customize this behavior or integrate other external applications into FreeFileSync, navigate to Menu → Tools → Options → Customize context menu and add or replace a command.

The first entry will be executed when double-clicking a row on the main grid or when pressing ENTER. All other entries can be accessed quickly by pressing the associated numeric keys or via the context menu that is shown after a right mouse click.

In addition to regular Macros, the following special macros are available:

Macro | Description
--- | ---
%item_path% | Full file or folder path
%folder_path% | Parent folder path
%local_path% | Creates a temporary local copy for files located on SFTP and MTP storage. Identical to %item_path% for files on local disks and network shares.

Note: To refer to the item on the opposite side, append "2" to the macro name: e.g. %item_path2%, %folder_path2%, %local_path2%.

## Examples:

- Start file content comparison (Diff) tool:
  "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinMerge\WinMergeU.exe" "%local_path%" "%local_path2%"
- Show file in Windows Explorer:
  explorer /select, "%local_path%"
- Open file with associated application:
  "%local_path%"
- Open Command Prompt for selected item:
  cmd /k cd /D "%folder_path%"
- Write list of selected file paths to a text file:
  cmd /c echo %item_path% >> %csidl_Desktop%\file_list.txt
- Preview files using Quick Look on macOS:
  qlmanage -p "%local_path%"

Note
Macros need to be protected with quotation marks if they can resolve to file paths containing whitespace characters.