Windows "Send to Plik"

Upload files to Plik directly from the Windows Explorer right-click menu.

1. Install the CLI

Download plik-<VERSION>-windows-amd64.exe from the releases page (or from your Plik server's web UI), rename it to plik.exe, and place it in a permanent location:

CMD (Command Prompt):

mkdir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plik"
move plik.exe "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plik\plik.exe"

PowerShell:

mkdir "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plik" -Force
Move-Item .\plik.exe "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plik\plik.exe"

This puts it under C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Plik\ — no admin rights required.

WARNING

Don't mix syntaxes! CMD uses %LOCALAPPDATA%, PowerShell uses $env:LOCALAPPDATA. Using the wrong one creates a literal folder named %LOCALAPPDATA%.

Optionally, add %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plik to your user PATH so you can call plik from any terminal:

Via Settings (GUI): Open Settings → System → About → Advanced system settings (or press Win+R, type sysdm.cpl), click Environment Variables…, under User variables select Path, click Edit…, click New, add %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plik, and click OK on all dialogs.

Via PowerShell:

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plik;" + [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User"), "User")

Open a new terminal for the change to take effect.

2. First run

Just run plik — it will guide you through the initial setup:

PS> plik
Please enter your plik domain [default:http://127.0.0.1:8080] :
https://plik.example.com

Authentication is required on this server.
Would you like to authenticate with your browser? [Y/n]
  Open this URL in your browser to authenticate:

    https://plik.example.com/#/cli-auth?code=XXXX-XXXX&hostname=my-pc

  Your one-time code: XXXX-XXXX

  Waiting for authentication...

  ✓ Authenticated! Token saved to ~/.plikrc
  Token: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

Do you want to enable client auto update ? [Y/n]

Plik client settings successfully saved to C:\Users\<you>/.plikrc

The CLI will:

1. Prompt for the server URL and save it to %USERPROFILE%\.plikrc
2. Automatically trigger login if authentication is forced on the server
3. Ask about auto-update preference

TIP

If the server has authentication enabled (but not forced), you can authenticate later with plik --login.

3. Create the upload script

Save the following as plik-upload.cmd:

@echo off
REM ── Send to Plik ──
REM Uploads the selected file(s) via the Plik CLI.
REM Adjust the path below if plik.exe is in a different location.

set PLIK=%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plik\plik.exe

if "%~1"=="" (
    echo No files selected.
    pause
    exit /b 1
)

echo Uploading to Plik...
echo.

"%PLIK%" %*

echo.
echo Press any key to close...
pause >nul

This passes all selected files (%*) to plik.exe, displays the resulting download links, then waits for a keypress so you can copy the URLs before the window closes.

You can customize the plik invocation with flags, for example:

"%PLIK%" --oneshot --ttl 24h %*

4. Install into the Send To folder

1. Press Win + R, type shell:sendto, press Enter.
2. Copy (or move) plik-upload.cmd into that folder.

You can also place a shortcut to the script there instead of the script itself — both work.

5. Use it!

1. In Windows Explorer, select one or more files.
2. Right-click → Send to → plik-upload.
3. A console window opens, uploads the files, and prints the download links.
4. Copy the links before pressing any key to close.

Windows 11 Note

Windows 11 introduced a simplified right-click menu that hides Send to behind Show more options. This adds an extra click every time you want to upload.

To restore the classic full context menu (with Send to directly visible), run in an elevated terminal:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe

To revert back to the Windows 11 modern menu:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe