How to SFTP to your webhost using FileZilla

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SFTP means secured FTP where the transmission is encrypted.    Many web host support SFTP. And in fact you should be using SFTP whenever possible.

Using FileZilla, you can SFTP to your webhost by enter the host, username, and password as normal.  But the trick is to enter 22 for the port.

This will automatically add the “sftp://” protocol in front of your host.   And Filezilla will show a lock icon indicated an encrypted transmission.  Double-click on the lock icon to see the details of the encryption.

If you are using Filezilla’s Site Manager, then …

1. Click the File icon
2. Click “New Site” and give it a name
3. Enter the domain name
4. Select “SFTP”
5. Select “Normal” login type
6. Enter username and password
7. Click Connect

While this technique applies to many webhost, each webhost may be slightly different.  If this doesn’t work, ask your webhost how to perform SFTP to their server.  With certain webhosts, you may need to get SSH access from your webhost in order to use SFTP.

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