Support
Need help with R2Explorer? Below you'll find answers to common questions and ways to get in touch.
Common Issues
Connecting to Cloudflare R2
To connect to Cloudflare R2, you need an API token with the appropriate R2 permissions. You can create one in the Cloudflare dashboard under R2 > Manage R2 API Tokens. Make sure your token has at least read permissions for the buckets you want to browse.
Which API token permissions does R2Explorer need?
A connection has more than one credential, and different features need different permissions — no single Cloudflare token template covers all of them. Rather than guess, open Connection Doctor from the toolbar or by right-clicking a connection in the sidebar; it probes each capability live and tells you exactly which one is missing.
- R2 · Read on your R2 API token — lists the buckets in the account and proves the account ID and token together. This is the minimum for a connection to work at all.
- Access Key ID and Secret Access Key — a second, independent S3 credential. Without it a connection can still browse bucket names, but every download, upload, and preview will fail.
- R2 Data Catalog · Read — the Data Catalog workbench and the safety guard. Not every R2 token template carries it, and the gap only shows up as an empty workbench.
- Account Analytics · Read — Cost & Budget and the Cost & Catalog Monitor. This is the one people miss; see below.
A token missing a permission never breaks the rest of the app: the affected feature explains what to add, and everything else keeps working.
Why does Cost & Budget say my token cannot read analytics?
Because R2 API tokens cannot carry the Account Analytics · Read
permission at all — it is an account-level permission, and no amount of editing an R2
token will add it. Cost & Budget therefore needs a separate account API token.
Create one in the Cloudflare dashboard under My Profile > API Tokens via Create Custom Token → Permissions: Account · Account Analytics · Read, then edit the connection and save it in the analytics token field. Leaving that field empty tells R2Explorer to fall back to the management token, which is why the error appears. Every other feature works without it.
What is Connection Doctor?
Connection Doctor is a built-in diagnostic that walks a connection one plane at a time — the management API, the S3 object API, Data Catalog, and analytics — and reports which ones answered and which permission is missing from the ones that did not, with a link straight to the token page to fix it.
Every probe is a read. Capability is inferred from reads that a credential without the permission would be rejected for; nothing is written, created, or mutated to find out. Results are not cached, because a token's state from days ago is not its state now.
S3-Compatible Connections
R2Explorer also supports S3-compatible storage providers. You'll need the endpoint URL, access key ID, and secret access key from your provider. Enter these in the connection setup screen and R2Explorer will connect using the standard S3 protocol.
Local wrangler dev Projects
Add a connection of type Local and choose your Wrangler project folder — the one
containing .wrangler/state/v3/r2, created by running wrangler dev or
wrangler r2 object put --local. R2Explorer reads and writes the local Miniflare R2
data directly on disk, so no credentials are required and your changes are visible to
wrangler dev. Stop wrangler dev before writing so the app and Miniflare
don't use the local database at the same time.
API Token Storage
Your API tokens and credentials are stored securely in the macOS Keychain. R2Explorer never stores credentials in plain text or sends them to any server other than the Cloudflare R2 API (or your configured S3-compatible endpoint). If you need to update a token, edit the connection in the App's connection manager.
Connectivity Issues
If you're having trouble connecting, check that:
- Your API token hasn't expired or been revoked
- Your token has the required R2 permissions
- Your internet connection is active
- Cloudflare services are operational — check Cloudflare Status
File Preview
R2Explorer supports previewing images, JSON, XML, YAML, and code files directly in the App. For unsupported file types, you can download the file to view it with the appropriate application on your Mac.
How do I restore my Pro purchase?
Open R2Explorer, go to Settings and choose Restore Purchases. Pro is a one-time in-app purchase tied to your Apple ID, so it unlocks on every Mac signed into that account — and through Family Sharing where you have it enabled. If nothing happens, check that the Mac is signed into the same Apple ID that made the purchase.
If you bought R2Explorer before it moved to the free + Pro model, there is nothing to restore: your existing purchase is honored automatically and Pro unlocks on first launch.
System Requirements
- macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later — earlier versions of macOS are not supported
- Apple Silicon or Intel Mac
Report an Issue
Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue on GitHub — the link below opens a new issue pre-filled with a template so we can help faster.
Contact Us
Prefer email? Reach out to us directly:
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