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Documentation

FTP and FTPS

FTP was developed more than 50 years ago. It lacks the security and functionality of modern protocols and often requires exceptions in corporate firewalls. Files.com is trusted by thousands of customers to provide hosted FTP services for legacy compatibility.

Files.com remains committed to supporting FTP connections. Our Desktop, Mobile, Web portal, SDKs, API, and Command Line app offer better performance and security than FTP. See Preferred Apps For File Transfer to learn about and download the Files.com native apps as an alternative to FTP.

We offer FTP primarily for customers who need it to interact with a legacy application or legacy hardware that only supports FTP. We will help you get FTP working, but it will never be as fast or secure as our native apps.

Terminology

The acronym FTP stands for File Transfer ProtocolExternal LinkThis link leads to an external website and will open in a new tab, defined by RFC 959External LinkThis link leads to an external website and will open in a new tab. It encompasses both the unencrypted "plain" FTP and the encrypted FTP protocols. The encrypted variant is commonly known as FTPS, and is also referred to as FTP(S), FTPeS, explicit FTPS, or implicit FTPS.

In our platform settings and documentation, the term FTP refers inclusively to both unencrypted and encrypted versions. When a setting or document pertains specifically to unencrypted "plain" FTP, that is explicitly noted. The same clarity applies for encrypted FTP.

FTP and FTPS are often used interchangeably because encrypted FTP has become the de facto standard. Unencrypted "plain" FTP is rarely supported now, typically only in legacy systems that cannot be updated to modern security standards.

FTP is also sometimes used generically in conversation to refer to any file transfer method, not just the File Transfer Protocol. For instance, someone might say "I'm FTPing a file to you," which could mean using FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, HTTPS, or another file transfer method. In our platform and documentation, FTP specifically refers to the File Transfer Protocol as defined in RFC 959.

FTP Topics

The subpages cover both correct configuration and common failure modes, so you can debug issues without a separate troubleshooting section.