How to setup FileZilla and use it to manage Server files

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a protocol which is used to transfer files from one system to any other system over any TCP-based network like internet. To use this protocol you need to install FTP client software on your system which will connect with your server computer over the internet using your FTP account credentials.

FTP Client software is used to download and upload files from and to the server. Because of it, users don’t need to login to his cPanel account which is provided to him by his hosting provider to upload and download files. Uploading and downloading files directly from cPanel is a big security risk. Using FTP client software we can completely remove this security risk.

The FTP client software that we are going to learn about today is FileZilla. FileZilla is free, easy to setup and easy to use FTP client software, which is globally used by many webmasters to upload and download files from and to their Webservers.

How to create FTP account on your Server

• Login to your account on Hosting Provider Website.
• Go to cPanel of your Hosting Account.
• Under File Management section, click on FTP Accounts.

• In the next screen you will be asked to fill some details to create new FTP account.
• Give FTP username as username@domainname.com.
• Enter desired strong password, remove subdirectory entry here so that you will have full access to root directory.
• Choose Unlimited Quota.
• Click on Create FTP Account.

Congrats, you have successfully created new FTP account for your website.

Download and Setup FileZilla

• First download FileZilla client setup file from this link https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client.
• Install FileZilla and Launch it.
• Go to File menu and select Site Manager.

• Click on New Site to create new FTP connection.
• Give your New Site a name like “MyFTPConnection”
• Fill your domain name like domainname.com in Host Field.
• Enter 21 in port field
• Select FTP-File Transfer Protocol as Protocol.
• Use Plain Test as Encryption format.
• Choose Logon Type as Normal.
• Give username of your FTP account as username@domianname.com inside Username field. To know your username checkout your FTP accounts in your hosting cPanel, you will find your FTP username there.
• Give password of your FTP account.
• Now click on Advanced tab and append /public_html to your default root directory field path.

• Click OK to save the changes.

Hurrry, You have successfully configured FileZilla Ftp client for your site.

How to use FileZilla

Whenever you want to access files in your website you just need follow these steps.

• Open FileZilla and go to File → Site Manager
• Select Your website connection from the list and Click on connect.
• If your configuration is correct then you will be successfully connected to your server.
• As you can see in this image below, on the left hand site you can see local folder listing and on the right hand side you can see remote folder (root folder of your site) listing.
• To upload any file from Local system to server follow these steps.
  • Browse and select destination folder in remote site.
  • Browse and select source file in the Local site, right click and select upload.

• To download any file from remote system to local system follow these steps.
  • Browse and select destination folder in local site.
  • Browse and select source file in the remote site, right click and select download.

Like downloading and uploading files, you can also view, edit and delete file in your server(if required), using FileZilla client.

I hope this post will help you setting up FileZilla FTP client and accessing your website files using FileZilla. Still, if you find any problem in configuring and using FileZilla then feel free to ask me in the comment section.