FileZilla will not load after force quit

FileZilla for the Mac is a gem of a program for those needing a free “traditional” FTP client (alternatives being the sleek Cyberduck and the Firefox add-on FireFTP).

Recently, however, I had a problem. I created a new site with a default local directory that had over a thousand subdirectories. Upon connecting, the program began pinwheeling, presumably working its way through the many files. After a few minutes it was time for a cmd-click, force quit (ooh rhymy!). Upon relaunch, FileZilla was painfully slow to load. The FZ icon would happily bounce for a couple of seconds, but then it was pinwheel city again… one could only assume it was starting where it left off last time.

So, you’re stuck – unable to load FileZilla to change the setting that is causing FileZilla not to load. And so, as is so often the case, it’s command line to the rescue.

First, (force)quit FileZilla and open up a terminal. If you’re not already there, go to your personal user directory (/Users/yournamehere). An ls -la will reveal a hidden directory named .filezilla. Dive in and then edit filezilla.xml. The offending line reads as follows:

<Setting name="Last local directory" type="string">path/to/directory/here</Setting>

Remove that whole line, save your file, start FileZilla and enjoy port 21-action all over again! Just remember to change the local directory in the problem site before you re-connect otherwise you’ll be back to square one.