Open the intended file
The file tools can help inspect remote content, compare versions and work with text. Available views depend on the file and your release. A text editor, comparison view and hexadecimal viewer solve different tasks; do not assume every displayed file can be edited safely.
Start in SFTP Files, verify the host and path, and choose the relevant open or comparison action. The SFTP comparison lets you select a local file and inspect it beside the remote file. Use a copy of important configuration files while learning the workflow.
Review and apply changes
- Confirm which file and version you are viewing.
- For a comparison, check the left and right sources before interpreting additions and deletions.
- Make only the intended changes. Inspect surrounding lines, not just the highlighted difference.
- In the editor, select Save and wait for its result. The SFTP comparison view does not write changes to the remote file.
- Reopen the remote file or otherwise verify the saved content before restarting a service that depends on it.
Opening a file or editing its local view does not prove the remote write succeeded. Read-only permissions, a disconnected route or another writer can affect the outcome. Do not assume the editor locks a file against changes made by other tools.
When a recovered draft's remote file has changed, the editor shows Original base and Current remote and blocks saving. Keep a copy of the edits you want, then use Reload remote and review Discard draft and reload before replacing the draft. Reapply the intended edits to the current file and save again. If draft retention fails, keep the editor open and follow its error message.
Binary files and sensitive data
A hexadecimal view is useful for examining bytes that do not form ordinary text. Avoid treating arbitrary binary content as a text document or applying a text transformation to it.
Remote files may contain credentials, customer data or private paths. Their appearance in the editor does not make them safe to copy into a shared terminal, AI prompt or support message. Keep a separate backup before changing files you cannot easily reconstruct.