rclone mount

Creates a virtual filesystem that makes your cloud storage appear as a local folder on your computer.

Quick start

# Basic mount
rclone mount remote:path /local/mount/point

# Mount in background (Linux/Mac)
rclone mount remote:path /local/mount/point --daemon

# Mount with options
rclone mount gdrive: ~/GoogleDrive \
  --vfs-cache-mode full \
  --daemon

Platform setup

Windows

Install WinFsp
Mount to a drive letter:

rclone mount remote: X: --vfs-cache-mode full

Mac

Install macFUSE
Mount to folder:

mkdir ~/CloudDrive
rclone mount remote: ~/CloudDrive --vfs-cache-mode full

Linux

# Install FUSE (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get install fuse3

# Install FUSE (Fedora)
sudo dnf install fuse3

# Mount
mkdir ~/CloudDrive
rclone mount remote: ~/CloudDrive --daemon

Usage

Caching

# No caching (streaming only)
rclone mount remote: /mount/point --vfs-cache-mode off

# Minimal caching (default)
rclone mount remote: /mount/point --vfs-cache-mode minimal

# Full caching (best for most uses)
rclone mount remote: /mount/point --vfs-cache-mode full

# Writes only (good for uploads)
rclone mount remote: /mount/point --vfs-cache-mode writes

Read-Only Mount

# Prevent accidental modifications
rclone mount remote: /mount/point \
  --read-only \
  --vfs-cache-mode full

Allow Other Users

# Let other users access mount (Linux/Mac)
rclone mount remote: /mount/point \
  --allow-other \
  --daemon

# May need to edit /etc/fuse.conf:
# user_allow_other

Custom Permissions

# Set file permissions
rclone mount remote: /mount/point \
  --dir-perms 0755 \
  --file-perms 0644 \
  --uid 1000 \
  --gid 1000

Troubleshooting

Mount Not Showing Files

# Check mount is active
mount | grep rclone

# Try with debugging
rclone mount remote: /mount/point -vv

# Clear cache
rm -rf ~/.cache/rclone/

Permission Denied

# Linux: Check FUSE permissions
groups | grep fuse

# Add user to fuse group
sudo usermod -aG fuse $USER

# Logout and login again

Slow Performance

# Increase cache and buffers
rclone mount remote: /mount/point \
  --vfs-cache-mode full \
  --vfs-cache-max-size 100G \
  --buffer-size 1G \
  --vfs-read-ahead 512M

Mount Hangs

# Force unmount (Linux/Mac)
fusermount -u /mount/point
# or
umount -f /mount/point

# Kill rclone process
pkill rclone

"Transport endpoint is not connected"

# Unmount and remount
fusermount -u /mount/point
rclone mount remote: /mount/point --daemon

Files not updating

# Reduce cache time
--dir-cache-time 5m
--poll-interval 1m
--vfs-cache-max-age 1h

Out of space errors

# Increase VFS cache limit
--vfs-cache-max-size 200G

# Or clear cache
rm -rf ~/.cache/rclone/vfs/

If you need more info, check out the full documentation.

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