Connect to SFTP for Shared Hosting Accounts Using FileZilla Updated on December 9, 2025 by Carrie Smaha 3 Minutes, 26 Seconds to Read SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) provides a secure method for transferring files to your InMotion Hosting Shared Hosting account. Unlike standard FTP, SFTP uses SSH key authentication instead of your cPanel login credentials, offering stronger security for your file transfers. This guide walks you through generating SSH access keys and configuring FileZilla to connect via SFTP. Generate SSH Access Keys in cPanel Before connecting with SFTP, you must create public and private SSH keys through cPanel. If you already have keys configured for SSH access on your shared or reseller server, you can use those same keys for SFTP. To generate new keys: Log in to your cPanel account. Under Security, click SSH Access. Click Manage SSH Keys, then Generate a New Key. Enter a strong password, confirm it, and click Generate Key. Return to Manage SSH Keys and click Manage next to your new public key. Click Authorize to enable the key for connections. After authorizing your public key, download your private key in PPK format: Under Private Keys, click View/Download next to your key. Scroll to Convert the key to PPK format. Enter your passphrase and click Download Key. Configure FileZilla for SFTP Setting up FileZilla for SFTP requires two steps: adding your private key file and creating a connection profile. PPK File Version Compatibility When cPanel converts your key to PPK format, it may generate either PPK version 2 or version 3, depending on your server’s cPanel version. According to the FileZilla documentation, FileZilla version 3.55.0 and later supports PPK v3 keys. If you use an older FileZilla version and encounter issues loading your key file, you have two options: update FileZilla to the latest version, or use a different FTP client such as WinSCP or Cyberduck. Add Your Private Key File Open FileZilla. From the top menu, click Edit, then Settings. In the Settings window, click SFTP in the left sidebar. Click Add key file in the right panel. Navigate to your downloaded PPK file and click Open. Verify the key appears in the list and click OK to save. Create the SFTP Connection Profile Click File, then Site Manager. Click New Site and give your connection a recognizable name. Enter the following settings:• Host: Your domain name (example.com) or server IP• Port: 2222• Protocol: SFTP• Logon Type: Key file• User: Your cPanel username• Key file: Browse to your PPK file Click Connect to establish the SFTP connection. FileZilla may prompt you to accept the server’s host key on your first connection. Click OK to add it to your trusted hosts. Troubleshooting Common Issues Connection Timeout Errors Verify you are using port 2222, not the standard SSH port 22. Shared and Reseller servers require port 2222 for SSH and SFTP connections. Authentication Failures Confirm your public key is authorized in cPanel under SSH Access > Manage SSH Keys. The key status should show “authorized” rather than “not authorized.” Key File Not Loading If FileZilla silently fails when adding your key, the file may be in an incompatible format. Update FileZilla to the latest version or regenerate your key using PPK version 2 format through PuTTYgen. Password Prompts Appearing If FileZilla keeps asking for a password despite having your key configured, verify the Logon Type is set to “Key file” rather than “Ask for password” or “Interactive.” Why Use SFTP Instead of FTP? SFTP encrypts both your credentials and file data during transfer, making it the preferred method for secure file management. For websites handling sensitive information or requiring PCI compliance, when you fail PCI compliance for FTP being open, you can use SFTP or SCP to connect to your server. Standard FTP transmits data in plain text, which creates security vulnerabilities on shared networks. SFTP eliminates this risk by tunneling all communication through an encrypted SSH connection. Next Steps After establishing your SFTP connection, you can upload, download, and manage files in your hosting account securely. For additional file transfer options, explore these resources: FTP Getting Started Guide Connecting with SCP and SFTP SSH Access for Shared and Reseller Servers If you encounter connection issues or need help with SSH key generation, InMotion Hosting’s support team is available 24/7 to assist. Share this Article Carrie Smaha Senior Manager Marketing Operations Carrie enjoys working on demand generation and product marketing projects that tap into multi-touch campaign design, technical SEO, content marketing, software design, and business operations. 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Good question! The article is referring to SFTP on Shared Hosting accounts, so you will not be able to disable standard FTP on those. If you have a VPS or Dedicated Server, you can close the port or turn off the service. Log in to Reply
Hello and thanks for contacting us. Unfortunately, you cannot disabled standard FTP on a Shared server. Log in to Reply
Thank you for writing instructions that are easy to read, understand and follow. Unfortunately, I am getting Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity Error: Could not connect to server Status: Disconnected from server Any suggestions? Log in to Reply
Hi, Using FileZilla I’m stuck in a loop. Keeps asking me to *Please enter a password for this server * I enter and the pop-up returns Log in to Reply
For hostname, I recommend typing in your server IP. I’ve updated the article with this info and link as well. Log in to Reply
I am using filezilla and getting following error. Can you please suggest what is that I am doing wrong. Status: Connecting to mydomain.com:2222… Response: fzSftp started, protocol_version=8 Command: keyfile “C:\kdfsd\pkey.ppk” Command: open “[email protected]” 2222 Error: ssh_init: Host does not exist Error: Could not connect to server Status: Waiting to retry… Log in to Reply
Hi Jays, I was able to step through the process again to make sure that it works with no issues. If you can provide more details we can look into. If you require privacy, then please contact our live technical support team. Log in to Reply
That means the root directory for that FTP account has no files in it. You can change it from cPanel. Log in to Reply
If you have no files there, then there is a problem. There should be some default folders and files there already. The public_html is typically where your website files would be located. Please contact our live technical support team if the problem persists. Log in to Reply
There’s a step missing here! Once you’ve generated a key, you must go back to the Manage Keys section, select Manage on the key you just generated, then AUTHORISE the key! Otherwise, it will never work. Log in to Reply
Hello. Thank you for your comment. You are correct that the SSH Key generated must also be authorized before you are able to use it. I have updated the linked article on SSH Access for Reseller and Shared servers, to include the process for authorizing SSH Keys accordingly. Best Regards, Carlos D Log in to Reply
Yes, SFTP is allowed on dedicated servers and will use port 22. Here is a helpful link to our full guide on FTP Basics for Dedicated Servers. Thank you, John-Paul Log in to Reply
Hello, I’m using FileZilla on Ubuntu 16.04 and I keep getting this: Error: Disconnected: No supported authentication methods available (server sent: publickey) Log in to Reply
Hello, It sounds like the key Filezilla is trying to authenticate with is incorrect, I would recommend making sure you have the correct key in the configuration, By default, it will use the one for the account you are logged in as. Best Regards, Kyle M Log in to Reply
I noticed that if I enter a wrong password when filezilla ask for it the connection will still succeed. Is that something expected once the key setup has been done? I even modified my cpanel password, relaunch filezilla, and the connection will still succees whatever the password I enter. is that the expected behaviour? Log in to Reply
Keys become the authentication method for logging in once they are set up. That’s why the password no longer matters. That’s the point of keys, so you dont need passwords. Log in to Reply
Is there a way to limit an sftp user to a certain directory in the server? Thank you. Log in to Reply
Hello JB, When you create the account in cPanel, then you can limit what the FTP user can access based on the folder that you indicate in their settings. If you’re trying to isolate them to a specific folder, then that folder cannot be a parent folder to numerous other folders. If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know. Regards, Arnel C. Log in to Reply
I was able to get this working in Coda 2, finally! I found that using the keys generated through cPanel was not possible in Coda, so I tried generating my own through Terminal like this: ssh-keygen Give it a unique name, like inmotionhosting and set your passphrase – just like you do through cPanel. After generating the key, add it to your Keychain with: ssh-add -K inmotionhosting (but replace ‘inmotionhosting’ with whatever you name your key) Once that’s done, head over to Security -> SSH Shell Access in cPanel and click Manage SSH Keys. Then click Import Key. Enter the name that you gave your key in the relevant field. Then copy and paste the contents of your private and public key files that you generated earlier in their respective boxes. Type in your passphrase where it asks for it. If you want to quickly view the contents of these key files in Terminal, use these commands (assuming you named your key ‘inmotionhosting’): cat ~/.ssh/inmotionhosting cat ~/.ssh/inmotionhosting.pub Copy and paste the results of those commands into the private field (first one) and then the public field (second one) in cPanel. Then click Import. Go back to the list of your keys and click Manage Authorization next to the key name you just imported, then click Authorize. Go back to Terminal on your Mac and create a new ‘config’ file in the ‘.ssh’ directory if there is not already one there. You can do this with nano like this: nano ~/.ssh/config In it, add a new host record that looks like this: Host YOURSERVERNAME.inmotionhosting.com HostName YOURSERVERNAME.inmotionhosting.com User YOURUSERNAME IdentityFile ~/.ssh/inmotionhosting Port 2222 Then save the file with CTRL-X and hit Y to confirm, then Enter. Go back to edit your site within Coda, and go to the Server tab. Select SFTP under Protocol, then type in the name of your shared server in the Server field. Leave everything else blank. The config file that you just created will be pulled when attempting to connect and will use the details you entered above. By doing all of this, I am now able to successfully connect to my account via SFTP in Coda 2! Log in to Reply
Our Live Support can check your server logs to see where the error may be coming from. Log in to Reply
Hey there, I followed the steps to add the key to my mac’s keychain, then tried connecting with Coda, restarting coda after every step. It still doesn’t work: says that the login doesn’t authenticate. Log in to Reply
Hello bennyp, Thank you for contacting us. An authentication error is usually related to username, and password. I recommend confirming your FTP Settings are correct and without misspellings. If your problems persist, I recommend checking the FTP logs for additional errors, or clues. If you are on a shared server, Live Support can help you with this. Thank you, John-Paul Log in to Reply
