Lektriq

Help! How to… use FTP

A beginners guide to transferring files using FTP

FTP, or File Transfer Protocol is our preferred method of moving files around the internet. This is a short guide to bring you up to speed with using FTP on Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Mac OS X.

What you need first

In order to connect to an FTP server you will need the hostname, username and password.

Windows Vista/Windows 7

You can access FTP by using Windows Explorer in Vista and Windows 7. The features are limited, but in most situations it will be all you need.

Logging in

  1. Click the Start button and then click Documents.
  2. At the top of the window that appears you will some text that looks something like C:\Users\Username\Documents. Select this text, then delete.
  3. Type your username, password and hostname in the format: ftp://username:password@hostname
  4. Press enter, then wait for it to load.

Transferring files

Once you have logged in you can transfer and edit files in the same way as you would with files on your computer.

Mac OS X

We like to use Cyberduck for FTP on OS X, it’s easy to use, and best of all, free. You can download the latest version of Cyberduck at: http://cyberduck.ch.

Once you’ve downloaded Cyberduck go to your downloads location, double-click the .zip file to decompress it and when it appears move Cyberduck to your Applications folder. When that’s all done double-click the Cyberduck icon to fire it up.

Logging in

When Cyberduck is open go to File > Open Connection. You will be presented with the following box to input your details.

In the box labelled Server input the hostname i.e. ftp.example.com.

Now add your username and password to the following boxes, make sure Add to keychain is ticked if you want to save your details, and then press connect.

Transferring files

You can transfer files by dragging and dropping to and from folders on your computer. Files can also be transferred using the menubar by selecting File > Upload… to select and send a file, or File > Download as… to download a file to a specific location.

Still confused?

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the details at the foot of the page or the contact form and we’ll guide you through the process.