Transferring Files in Filezilla

When using FileZilla as your FTP program, you can easily upload and download files to your local computer and from your web server. This article explains how to transfer files with FileZilla and how the basic FileZilla interface works. To learn how to transfer files in FileZilla, you will need to connect first. If you do not know how to connect, please see our article on Configuring your site in FileZilla.

Basic functions of FileZilla

The Connection Status Window

When connecting to FileZilla the “Connection window” will show a Successful status if successful. The image below shows the “Connection window” in FileZilla.

Local Folder Navigation Window

The image below shows the navigation window for your local computers folders. This “Local Site” is for navigating to a specific folder location on your computer.

The folder that is viewed is in the “www/community/builder/tables” folder on the local computer.

Remote Server Folder Navigation Window

The image below shows the Remote folders. These are the” Remote Site” folders on your web server. This is for navigating through your server folders.

The image also shows the folder “public_html/a-test” location on the web server.

Local Window for Files on Your Computer

The “Filename” window underneath the “Local Site” window is where you manage the files on your local computer.

The “Filename” window shows the contents of the “www/community/builder/tables” folder on the local computer.

Remote Window for Files on the Server

The “Filename” window underneath the “Remote Site” window is where you manage the files for your web server.

This “Filename” window shows the “public_html/a-test” contents. In this case the directory is empty.

Uploading From Your Computer to the Server

To upload files from your local computer to your server, you simply drag the files from your “Filename” Window underneath the “Local Site” Window to the “Filename” Window underneath the “Remote Site” window. See the image below for an exact representation of how to do this.

Downloading From Your Server to Your Local Computer

Just like uploading to your server, you can download files to your local computer by dragging files from the “Filename” window underneath the “Remote Site” window to the “Filename” window underneath the “Local Site” Window. The snapshot below shows the details.

That’s all there is to transferring files from your server to your local computer through FileZilla. We recommend bookmarking our FTP section for many more helpful tutorials.