If you need to access an FTP server, you can install dedicated FTP clients with lots of features –but you don’t necessarily have to. Windows itself offers several ways for connecting to an FTP server, allowing you to download and upload files in a pinch.
If you need access to an FTP server, you can install a specialized FTP client with many features, but you don't necessarily have to. Windows itself provides several ways to connect to an FTP server, allowing you to download and upload files in small amounts.
How to access an FTP server in Windows' File Explorer(How to Access FTP Servers in Windows’ File Explorer)
The Windows file manager–known as File Explorer on Windows 10 and 8, and Windows Explorer on Windows 7–allows you to connect to FTP servers.
Windows File Manager (known as File Explorer on Windows 10 and 8 and Windows Explorer on Windows 7) enables you to connect to an FTP server.
To connect to an FTP server, open a File Explorer or Windows Explorer window, click the “This PC” or “Computer”. Right-click in the right pane and select “Add a network location”.
To connect to the FTP server, open a File Explorer or Windows Explorer window and click This PC or Computer. Right-click on the right pane and select Add Network Location.
Go through the wizard that appears and select “Choose a custom network location”.
Browse the wizard that appears and select "Choose a custom network location".
In the “Specify the location of your website” dialog, enter the address of the ftp server in the form ftp:// .
In the Specify Site Location dialog box, specify the location of the site in terms offtp://Enter the address of the ftp server in the form of the
For example, Microsoft’s FTP server is , so we’d enter ftp:// here if we wanted to connect to that particular server.
For example, Microsoft's FTP server is, so to connect to that particular server, type hereftp:// 。
If you don’t have a username and password, you can often check the “Log on anonymously” box and sign into the server without a username and password. This gives you limited access to the server–you can generally download publicly available files but not upload files, for example.
If you don't have a username and password, you can usually check the "Log in anonymously" box and log in to the server with your username and password. This gives you access to the server only - for example, you can usually download public files, but not upload them.
If you do have a username and password, enter your username here. The first time you connect to the FTP server, you’ll be prompted to enter your password.
If you do have a username and password, enter your username here. The first time you connect to the FTP server, you will be prompted for a password.
You’ll now be asked to enter a name for the network location. Enter whatever name you like–the FTP site will appear with this name so you can easily remember which is which.
You will now be asked to enter the name of the network location. Enter your preferred name - the FTP site will be displayed with that name so you can easily remember which one.
When you’re done, the FTP site will appear under “Network locations” in the This PC or Computer pane. Download files and upload files by copying and pasting them to and from this folder.
When finished, the FTP site will appear in the This PC or Computer pane under Network Locations. Download files and upload files by copying them to this folder or pasting them from this folder.
How to access an FTP server at the command prompt(How to Access FTP Servers in the Command Prompt)
You can also do this with the ftp command in a Command Prompt window. This command is comes built into Windows.
You can also use the command prompt window with theftpcommand performs this operation. This command is built into Windows.
To do this, open a Command Prompt window. On Windows 10 or 8, right-click the Start button or press Windows+X on your keyboard and select “Command Prompt”. On Windows 7, search the Start menu for “Command Prompt”.
To do this, open a "Command Prompt" window. On Windows 10 or 8, right-click the Start button or press Windows + X on your keyboard and select Command Prompt. On Windows 7, search for "Command Prompt" in the Start menu.
Type ftp at the prompt and press Enter. The prompt will change to an ftp> prompt.
At the prompt typeftp and then press Enter. The prompt will change toftp>Tip.
To connect to a server, type open followed by the address of the FTP server. For example, to connect to Microsoft’s FTP server, you’d type:
To connect to the server, typeopenThen enter the address of the FTP server. For example, to connect to Microsoft's FTP server, enter:
open
You’ll then be prompted for a username. Enter the username and password to connect to the site. If you don’t have one, you can enter “Anonymous” followed by a blank password to see if the FTP server allows anonymous access.
You will then be prompted for a username. Enter your username and password to connect to the site. If you do not have a password, you can enter "anonymous" and then a blank password to see if the FTP server allows anonymous access.
Once you’re connected, you can navigate the FTP server with the dir and cd commands. To view the contents of the current directory, type:
Once the connection is established, you can use thedirrespond in singingcdcommand to browse the FTP server. To view the contents of the current directory, type:
dir
To change to another directory, type the cd command followed by the name of the directory. For example, you’d type the following command to change to a directory named “example”:
To change to another directory, typecdcommand followed by the name of the directory. For example, you would type the following command to change to a directory named "example":
cd example
To upload or download files, use the get and push commands.
To upload or download a file, use thegetrespond in singingpushCommand.
For example, to download a file named in the current FTP folder, you’d type:
For example, to download a file named in the current FTP folder, enter:
get
To upload a file stored on your desktop named to the FTP server, you’d type:
To upload a file named stored on your desktop to an FTP server, enter:
put "C:\Users\YOURNAME\Desktop\"
When you’re done, just type the following command and press Enter to close the connection:
When you are done, simply type the following command and press Enter to close the connection:
quit
While apps like Cyberduck or FileZilla offer plenty of advanced features that Windows’ built-in options don’t, both of the above are great options for basic FTP browsing, uploading, and downloading.
This is despite the fact that a number of issues such asCyberduckmaybeFileZillaClasses of applications offer many advanced features not found in Windows' built-in options, but both of the above are excellent for basic FTP browsing, uploading and downloading.
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