One of the most popular FTP programs is FileZilla. FileZilla is free open-source software with many great options often found in paid FTP programs.
Some virus/malware prevention software will flag the adware bundled with the general installation file that is provided on the FileZilla website. If you download the non-bundled version of the software (links provided below), then you will not see this happen. Note that the malware is not for the FTP software itself.
FileZilla Download options (non-bundled):
Note that you can also find all of these download files on the FileZilla download page.
Before you can set up FileZilla, you will need to download the Client version for whatever operating system you have. Once you install FileZilla, open the program. You will need to use your FTP credentials which are the same as the cPanel login credentials. If you need more general information on your FTP server settings, please see our Getting started FTP guide.
Once you have FileZilla installed and you have your login information, we can go over the steps to configure FileZilla. The following sections will explain how to connect using FileZilla with the Quick Connect and the Site Manager.
How to Use the Quick Connect in FileZilla
When setting up FileZilla, you can have different custom settings in the site manager that you cannot do in the Quick Connect.
- Open up your FileZilla program.
- Enter your FTP connection credentials in the Quick Connect bar at the top of FileZilla.
Important! Keep in mind each server has different connection settings. You will need to use the cPanel credentials for your server, which can be found in AMP in the Technical Details section.
The connection settings are as follows:
– Host: example.com
– Username: your cPanel username
– Password: Your cPanel password
– Port: 21
- Click the Quickconnect button.
If the connection fails you will get an error similar to this:
Failure: Response: 530 Login incorrect. Error: Critical error Error: Could not connect to server Success
If you get this failure, most likely either the username and password are incorrect, or the host name you are connecting with is not connecting to your server. If you have trouble finding you username, password, and host, please contact support and they will be able to point you to them.
A successfully connection will show the following.
Success: Command: MLSD Response: 150 Accepted data connection Response: 226-Options: -a -l Response: 226 27 matches total Status: Directory listing successful
- Your Quickconnect connection will be stored in the history. You can check it by clicking the down arrow next to the quickconnect button.
- Navigate to the bottom right window that says Filename. You should see your public_html folder where your site files go in the list just like the image below.
- Now you can just drag your files into the public_html folder to get your site uploaded.
FileZilla Site Manager Configuration
The Site Manager in FileZilla is another way you can set up your FTP connection. The Connection is saved in your FileZilla Site manager and can be restarted again at a later date. The difference between the site manager and the QuickConnect is the Site Manager has options for changing the type of connections. The following steps will explain how to set up FileZilla through the Site Manager.
- Open up your FileZilla program.
- On the top right, click the Site manager button.
- Click “New Site” and give the site a name.
- Fill in your FTP connection information.
Important! Keep in mind each server has different connection settings. You will need to use the cPanel credentials for your server, which can be found in AMP in the Technical Details section.
– Host: example.com
– Protocol: FTP – File Transfer Protocol
– Encryption: Use Plain FTP
– Login type: Normal
– User: your cPanel username
– Password: Your cPanel password
– Account: blank
– Comments: blank
- Click OK.
- Next, connect to your server by clicking the down arrow next to the site manager button.
- Click your site that you just created and FileZilla will connect to your server. You should see your server files load and the connection successful like the graphic below.
Here is how to resolve FileZilla’s common too many connections error.
