diff --git a/core/client.js b/core/client.js
index 566aec5d..a6cfae52 100644
--- a/core/client.js
+++ b/core/client.js
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ function Client(/*input, output*/) {
 
     this.user               = new User();
     this.currentTheme       = { info : { name : 'N/A', description : 'None' } };
-    this.lastKeyPressMs     = Date.now();
+    this.lastActivityTime   = Date.now();
     this.menuStack          = new MenuStack(this);
     this.acs                = new ACS( { client : this, user : this.user } );
     this.mciCache           = {};
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ function Client(/*input, output*/) {
                     self.log.trace( { key : key, ch : escape(ch) }, 'User keyboard input'); // jshint ignore:line
                 }
 
-                self.lastKeyPressMs = Date.now();
+                self.lastActivityTime = Date.now();
 
                 if(!self.ignoreInput) {
                     self.emit('key press', ch, key);
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ Client.prototype.startIdleMonitor = function() {
         this.stopIdleMonitor();
     }
 
-    this.lastKeyPressMs = Date.now();
+    this.lastActivityTime = Date.now();
 
     //
     //  Every 1m, check for idle.
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ Client.prototype.startIdleMonitor = function() {
         //  use override value if set
         idleLogoutSeconds = this.idleLogoutSecondsOverride || idleLogoutSeconds;
 
-        if(idleLogoutSeconds > 0 && (nowMs - this.lastKeyPressMs >= (idleLogoutSeconds * 1000))) {
+        if(idleLogoutSeconds > 0 && (nowMs - this.lastActivityTime >= (idleLogoutSeconds * 1000))) {
             this.emit('idle timeout');
         }
     }, 1000 * 60);
@@ -489,6 +489,10 @@ Client.prototype.stopIdleMonitor = function() {
     }
 };
 
+Client.prototype.explicitActivityTimeUpdate = function() {
+    this.lastActivityTime = Date.now();
+}
+
 Client.prototype.overrideIdleLogoutSeconds = function(seconds) {
     this.idleLogoutSecondsOverride = seconds;
 };
diff --git a/core/file_transfer.js b/core/file_transfer.js
index 5f0138e2..ff9216d6 100644
--- a/core/file_transfer.js
+++ b/core/file_transfer.js
@@ -378,7 +378,16 @@ exports.getModule = class TransferFileModule extends MenuModule {
 
         const externalProc = pty.spawn(cmd, args, spawnOpts);
 
+        let dataHits = 0;
+        const updateActivity = () => {
+            if (0 === (dataHits++ % 4)) {
+                this.client.explicitActivityTimeUpdate();
+            }
+        };
+
         this.client.setTemporaryDirectDataHandler(data => {
+            updateActivity();
+
             //  needed for things like sz/rz
             if(external.escapeTelnet) {
                 const tmp = data.toString('binary').replace(/\xff{2}/g, '\xff');    //  de-escape
@@ -389,6 +398,8 @@ exports.getModule = class TransferFileModule extends MenuModule {
         });
 
         externalProc.on('data', data => {
+            updateActivity();
+
             //  needed for things like sz/rz
             if(external.escapeTelnet) {
                 const tmp = data.toString('binary').replace(/\xff/g, '\xff\xff');   //  escape