FileZilla is a free client software that allows its users to connect a local PC with an online server in order to exchange data. Uploads and downloads are carried out via the network protocol FTP (file transfer protocol), SFTP (SSH file transfer protocol), or FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). The program is licensed under GPL (GNU General Public License) and is available for download for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux on the file hosting platform, Source­Forge. Download links to the current version are found on FileZilla’s website. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use FileZilla and give you an overview of its functions–from in­stal­la­tion to data transfer.

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In­stalling the client software

FileZilla’s in­stal­la­tion can vary greatly depending on which software is sup­port­ing it. Es­sen­tial­ly, all that needs to be done is for the desired software packet to be down­loaded from the internet and then started up on a locally connected computer.

  • Windows: to install FileZilla for Windows, login with admin rights, run the in­stal­la­tion file with the ending, .exe, and follow the set-up in­struc­tions
  • Mac OS: in­stalling FileZilla on a Mac requires OS-X version 10.7 or higher. The software is easily installed by double clicking on the unzipped software package
  • GNU/Linux: for an easy in­stal­la­tion of GNU/Linux, use your dis­trib­u­tor’s package manager

User in­ter­faces with window layouts

FileZilla presents the following interface in order to exchange files between your locally connected computer and a server.

Image: User interface with window layout
FileZilla provides you with a user interface that allows you to exchange files between the local computer and the server

The client software’s user interface is divided into 6 areas, which have been marked with different colors for clarity. 

  • Toolbar (purple): provides varying functions
  • Quick­Con­nect bar (red): this section is for the con­nec­tion to the server
  • Message protocol (green): displays messages about transfers and the con­nec­tion
  • Local directory (pink): shows files and di­rec­to­ries on the locally connected PC
  • Server directory (yellow): shows files and di­rec­to­ries on the server
  • Transfer queue (orange): lists files that are to be trans­ferred as well as files that have already been trans­ferred

Setting up a FileZilla server con­nec­tion

Es­tab­lish­ing a server con­nec­tion is easy with the help of the Quick­con­nect function located under the menu bar.

Image: Quickconnect bar from FileZilla
You can connect to the server using the FileZilla Quick­con­nect bar

Enter the ap­pro­pri­ate login data in the cor­re­spond­ing boxes located in the Quick­con­nect bar. This consists of a server name, user name, and a password. The server name (host) refers to the domain under which the computer is available over the internet. The IP address can also be used as an al­ter­na­tive at this point.

Image: Login data entered into FileZilla’s Quickconnect bar
Enter the login data for the server using the Quick­con­nect bar

Leave the ‘port’ box empty if there is no specific login data for this parameter. For those wishing to set up a secure con­nec­tion via FTPS or SFTP for the data transfer, add the following network protocols to beginning of the server name:

sftp://ex­am­ple­name.com

ftps://ex­am­ple­name.com

Server names without such prefixes result in un­en­crypt­ed FTP con­nec­tions.

The con­nec­tion set-up’s status is displayed in the message protocol located below the Quick­con­nect bar:

Image: File history of FileZilla under the Quickconnect bar
The message log under the Quick­con­nect bar shows the status of the con­nec­tion setup

Once a con­nec­tion is es­tab­lished, the user interface then displays two directory trees: the local directory (left) and your server’s directory (right).

Image: Directory trees in the FileZilla user interface
View of the two directory trees in the FileZilla user interface

Con­nec­tion set-up via FileZilla site manager

Al­ter­na­tive­ly, you can set up a con­nec­tion via the program’s site manager. Select the first button on the tool bar, ‘site manager…’. 

Image: The FileZilla site manager
Con­nec­tion setup via the FileZilla site manager

The server manager then opens its own dialog box where you can then add new servers. Name the entry for the server set-up and confirm this with the enter button. Now enter your server’s login data in the cor­re­spond­ing tab, ‘General’. Select the con­nec­tion type, ‘Normal’, and close the dialog box by clicking ‘Connect’. FileZilla then es­tab­lish­es a con­nec­tion to your server.

Image: Entering data via the FileZilla site manager
Select the option 'New Site' and enter the in­for­ma­tion for the con­nec­tion setup

In order to make the setup of such con­nec­tions easier in the future, FileZilla offers users the pos­si­bil­i­ty to save login data, including passwords, into the site manager. But this can be a risk as con­nec­tion data is stored on locally connected computers in plain text. Un­for­tu­nate­ly, there’s no function available for storing this in­for­ma­tion in an encrypted form.

Trans­fer­ring data

In order to transfer data from your locally connected computer to the server, select the file or directory (located in the local directory tree) you wish to send and move it via drag and drop into the target directory located on the server. As soon as you’ve de­ter­mined its des­ti­na­tion, the file then appears in the transfer queue. Trans­fer­ring files or di­rec­to­ries from the server onto the local computer follows this pattern as well.

In addition to the drag and drop feature, you can also upload and download items through a context menu, which appears with a right click. This function also allows you to manage (i.e. create or delete) files and di­rec­to­ries on the server.

Should any of your actions when uploading and down­load­ing lead to a file being over­writ­ten, then FileZilla au­to­mat­i­cal­ly opens a dialog window where you’re able to make decisions regarding the file in question. Here, you can choose to allow the file to be over­writ­ten, skipped, or have its name changed.

Comparing di­rec­to­ries

FileZilla has provided a function for comparing di­rec­to­ries so that you’re able to keep an overview of the data being exchanged between your locally connected computer and the online server. Use the ‘Directory com­par­isons’ option in the toolbar to manage this task. Once the directory com­par­i­son has been activated, FileZilla then high­lights the file dif­fer­ences in various colors, all of which are as­so­ci­at­ed with different sit­u­a­tions. The color coded statuses are broken down as follows:

  • Files with no high­light­ing: the file on the locally connected computer and on the server are identical
  • Yellow high­light­ed file: files are located either on the locally connected computer or on the server, but not on both.
  • Green high­light­ed files: files are located on the locally connected computer, but vary from one another in terms of their al­ter­ation dates
  • Red high­light­ed files: files are located on the locally connected computer and server, but vary from one another in terms of their file sizes
Image: FileZilla directory comparison
Comparing two di­rec­to­ries using the Directory com­par­isons’ option
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