January 6, 2008: How to transfer files with FTP
This page explains how to transfer files to a remote site using Ipswitch’s WSFTP under Windows. I assume you’ve already installed WSFTP on your computer and know where to run it from. Other FTP applications work similarly so this page should help even if you are not running WSFTP or if you use different operating system.
NOTE: WSFTP is now shareware and the last available freeware version is WS-FTP LE v5.08. Thanks to Olivier Cleynen for the tip.
Connecting and Uploading
Start WSFTP from your menu or desktop shortcut. WSFTP should come up looking something like this:
Now you need to fill in some fields to specify where to connect to, etc.
- Host Name/Address is the server you want to upload the files to - I’ll use plaza.ufl.edu for this example.
- User ID is your id on the server (you need an account to be able to FTP files to it). For plaza, the user id is the first part of your email (ep, in my case).
- Password, well, it’s your password on the server. On plaza, it’s the same password you use to check your email. You can also check Save Pwd so WSFTP will remember it.
- If you enter a name under Profile Name, WSFTP will store the information so you don’t have to enter it everytime (you can save different profiles for different sites).
With all the information, my screen now looks like:
Once you’re done with the fields, either hit the Enter key or click on Ok. This makes WSFTP connect to the web server using the FTP protocol and log in using your id and password. The main window is now split up into two directory listings with your local files (those on your computer) on the left and the server files on the right. By default, WSFTP starts with C:\Program Files\WS_FTP as the local folder and, in my case, my account on plaza has a folder named internet which is shown on the right:
Now we need to change the local directory to where you have the files you want to upload. For this example, I want to transfer the file myfile.txt which is in the Work folder on the C: drive. Change directories as you would with any other windows applications (double-click on the up arrow to go up one level in the folder tree and double-click on folders to go into them — alternatively, you can type the path in by hand. The result is that the folder should be shown in the Local System field with the contents of the folder shown in the listing below:
If you want to upload files to a different folder on the remote server, then you should change the listing on the right to that folder. For example, if I wanted to upload my files to the internet, I would double-click on it to update the field under Remote Site.
Now you need to select the file(s) to upload (or put on the server). Single-click on the file to select it:
If you want to upload multiple files, hold down the Control key as you click on their names.
Now you’re ready to transfer the file. This will not remove the file from your computer but will simply copy it to the server. To do this, click on the arrow pointing to the right in the middle of the screen:
WSFTP now transfers the file and you should see a copy on the Remote Site listing:
To download (or get) files from the server, select files on the right listing and click on the arrow pointing left. You can also delete and rename files or create folders by using the buttons to the right of each listing.