Use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to manage your files

Definitions

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a secure method for managing and transfering files between your computer and hosting account.

Before you start

✅ For external users, create FTP user accounts to manage files. If you’re the main owner of your hosting account, use SFTP or your file manager instead.

⚠️ You require an FTP application on your computer to use FTP.

ℹ️ This guide covers each step in a general guidelines format. If you’ve previously completed a step, go directly to the section that corresponds best to your requirements.

Step by step

Get an FTP application

You need to have an FTP application on your computer. In this guide, we will use FileZilla.

1. Go to the FileZilla website

2. Click on Download FileZilla Client under Quick Download Links

3. On the next page, choose the correct FileZilla version for your operating system

4. Follow the prompt to download and install FileZilla on your computer

Create an FTP user account

Next, you have to create an FTP user account.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel

2. From the top right, click the down arrow  and choose the domain you want to create an FTP user for

3. Click on the FTP Accounts button

4. Click on + Create FTP Account

5. In the User Name field, type in a username prefix. You can name it however you like, by using a name, a word or letters, along with a series of digits. For example, we will name our user ftpuser27

6. For the Password field, click the dice ⚁ ⚁ button to generate a secure password

7. The next section shows four permission levels. By default, an FTP account has Domain level access, limited to its associated domain, which is recommended. To allow access to all domains, select the FTP permission level.

8. Double check your fields. Once ready, click the Create button.

9. Once you’ve created the FTP user account, you will get a popup that shows the FTP account details. Take note of these details on a secure note or your password manager.

ℹ️ Note: The login is your FTP account username.

Connect via FTP

1. Open a new session on your file transfer application, we will use FileZilla for our session.

⚠️ Note: The order and field names will vary depending on your file transfer application.

2. In the Host: field, put in your domain name

🚨Note: If your domain uses external DNS or a CDN (Cloudflare, etc.), use your hosting account’s IP address as the Host instead of the domain name.

3. In the Username: field, put in your FTP username. For example, our username is [email protected]

4. In the Password: field, put in your FTP password

5. In the Port: field, put in 21

6. Review your details, make sure they’re all correct. Once ready, click the Quickconnect button.

7. You’ll get a popup to verify your connection. Check the box next to Always trust this host, add this key to cache and then click the OK button.

8. Once connected via FTP, you’ll see your computer’s folders and files on the left and your hosting account’s files and folders on the right. You can securely manage or transfer files between them.

9. If you’re not sure where your website files are located on your hosting account, use this guide:

Once you find your website file path, you would navigate to it on your FTP application, on your ‘hosting account’ side.