What is FTP?

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a standard way of transferring files between your computer and your web hosting account. This article explains how it works, your login details, and how to manage FTP accounts in cPanel.

What is FTP?

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a standard way of transferring files between your computer and your web hosting account. Think of it like a two-pane file browser: one side shows the files on your computer, the other shows the files on your hosting server. You can drag files between the two panes to upload or download them.

FTP clients are the programs that make this possible. You give them your hosting credentials and they handle the connection for you.

For a full introduction to FTP - including how to find your login details and create FTP accounts in cPanel - see our FTP Getting Started Guide.

Your FTP login details

Your FTP username and password are the same as your cPanel credentials. Your FTP hostname is usually your domain name or the server hostname from your welcome email. For full details, see What are my FTP login details?

Primary FTP user and additional FTP accounts

Your main cPanel login acts as the primary FTP user and has access to your entire hosting account. If you need to give a developer or a colleague FTP access, you can create additional FTP accounts in cPanel and lock each one down to a specific directory - so they can only see and edit the files you choose. See How to create additional FTP accounts in cPanel for step-by-step instructions.

FTP clients

Not sure which program to use? See Which FTP client should I use? for a comparison of the most popular options by operating system.

There are a number of FTP client programs available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Popular free options include FileZilla and Cyberduck. Once installed, you connect using:

Host - your domain name or server hostname
Username - your FTP username
Password - your FTP password
Port - typically 21 for standard FTP, or 22 for SFTP

If you are using FileZilla, see Configuring your website in FileZilla and Uploading files using FileZilla for step-by-step setup guides. WinSCP users can follow Configuring your website in WinSCP and Uploading files using WinSCP instead.

Where possible, use SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) rather than plain FTP. SFTP encrypts your connection, keeping your credentials and files secure in transit.

If you run into connection problems, How to check if FTP port 21 is blocked can help you diagnose network issues, and How can I check my FTP client's log? explains how to read the connection log for more detail.

Managing FTP accounts in cPanel

You can create and manage FTP accounts directly from your cPanel account under Files > FTP Accounts. This lets you set up separate logins for different directories, which is useful if you need to give a developer or designer access to a specific part of your site without sharing your main account credentials.

Once your files are uploaded, you can also browse and edit them without an FTP client at all - see How to use File Manager in cPanel. If you need to protect a particular folder from public access, How to password protect a folder in cPanel walks you through that process.

For a reminder of where to put your website files once you are connected, see Where do I upload my website?

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