Files.com checks each login against Active Directory, or any LDAP directory, right at sign-in. It uses the same password behind Windows logins and network drives, with nothing copied into a second store. And that password works over SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, the Desktop App, mobile, and the API, not just the browser.
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At companies that run Windows, Active Directory is the one place that holds everyone's passwords and groups. Files.com checks logins against it, and against any LDAP directory, directly. So people sign in to file transfer with the same login they type for Windows, and you manage one set of accounts instead of two.
There's no second password store. Files.com asks your directory whether the password is right, at the moment of sign-in. People type the one they already use for Windows, and you never field a reset ticket for a file-transfer password again.
This is the big one. With AD or LDAP, the same directory password works over SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, the Desktop App, mobile, and the API. Not just the browser. Cloud sign-in services can't do that, so a partner connecting over SFTP uses their company login like everyone else, and you never hand out a second key or password to manage. It's the main reason teams pick LDAP.
Remove someone from Active Directory and they lose Files.com access the same way they lose every other company login. There's no separate list to remember, so a departing employee can't keep file access you forgot to revoke, and your next access review comes back clean.
Say that only members of a certain directory group get Files.com accounts, and let that same group decide which folders they can reach. The access setup already in your directory carries straight through, so you don't rebuild your group structure here, and the right people get the right folders the moment they join the group.
Set a backup directory server and Files.com switches to it on its own when the main one can't be reached. People can still sign in during directory maintenance and outages, so a directory problem doesn't lock your partners out of their file transfers.
Your directory says who someone is. It was never meant to decide which folders they touch, or what they can do once inside a file platform. Files.com adds that part on top of the directory it checks logins against. You get fine-grained folder access, a full record of everything, and a connection built for directories that live behind the firewall.
Set access per person or group, folder by folder. You get nine levels, the option to block a folder, and fenced-off admins. The groups you already have in your directory feed straight into it.
Every sign-in and permission change lands in the Files.com audit log. The hourly directory sync is recorded too. That’s the history a SOC 2 review or an access dispute asks for.
Files.com connects with a read-only account limited to the parts of the directory you pick, and uses a secure, encrypted connection (LDAPS) so passwords are never sent in the clear. Read-only means Files.com can check a login but can't change anything in your directory, which is the answer your security team asks for before they approve the connection.
Most setups can't reach an internal-only directory. Files.com can. Open the LDAPS port to Files.com's published IP addresses and nothing else. The directory answers Files.com and nobody else on the internet, so you get directory sign-in without opening your directory to the world.
Put employees on directory sign-in and outside partners on Files.com passwords or SSH keys, on the same site. A vendor who isn't in your Active Directory still gets an account, so you never create directory entries for people who don't belong in your domain.
Keep one site administrator on a Files.com password. If the directory is ever down or misconfigured, that account still gets in, so your own identity infrastructure can never lock you out of the platform.
Every login is checked against the live directory right then, so a password change or a disabled account takes effect at the very next sign-in. There's no sync to wait on, so the moment you disable an account in your directory, that person is locked out of Files.com too.
Pick Active Directory/LDAP in Files.com and point it at your directory. You give it the server address, a read-only account, and which part of the directory to search, so setup is a short form, not a project. Use this when the directory password has to work over the file-transfer protocols. It works with on-premises and hybrid directories.
Already on Entra ID? Let Entra handle sign-in while Files.com reads group membership from your LDAP directory every hour and provisions users and groups from it. You keep the group-based filters that decide who gets an account, and both halves are configured on the one Entra integration.
When you move the directory to the cloud, run Entra ID alongside LDAP, switch people over one at a time, and turn off LDAP once everyone's moved. No flag day, no lockout.
A person connects over SFTP with their Active Directory username and password, the same one they use for Windows. There's no separate Files.com password or key to hand out, so there's one less credential to support and one less to leak.
Only members of a chosen directory group get Files.com accounts, and that group also decides which folders they can reach. Add a person to the group in your directory and their Files.com account and folders are set, so onboarding a new hire is one step, not a separate ticket for the file platform.
An auditor asks who can reach a folder and why. Directory groups decide the access, every sign-in and permission change is in the audit log, and the full who-has-what report exports as a CSV, so the answer takes minutes instead of a spreadsheet project.
A company moving from on-premises Active Directory to Entra ID runs both at once, tests one person, moves the rest, then turns off LDAP. People keep signing in the whole time, because both providers run side by side.
The folder-by-folder access, with nine levels, that your directory groups feed into.
Learn MoreWhere every sign-in and permission change is recorded, ready to export for a compliance review.
Learn MoreHow folder permissions reach SFTP, FTP, and WebDAV, not just the browser a person signs into.
Learn MoreRules that decide how long files stick around once someone has put them in Files.com.
Learn MoreNovember 17–20, 2026 · San Francisco, CA
Files.com builds deeply on SharePoint, OneDrive, Azure, and Microsoft Entra ID, so of course we’ll be on the floor at Microsoft Ignite telling our File Orchestration story. The legacy MFT vendors won’t be there.
See Files.com At Microsoft Ignite
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“Files.com's strengths are simplicity, ease of use, and the cloud connectors. We don't have to invent custom infrastructure for every partner.”
“Files.com is versatile — it can manage many different situations from a single platform. We've consolidated multiple tools onto it.”
“Files.com is robust and scales to a large enterprise. We get multiple files per minute, per second — and we're a 24/7 organization, so everything has to always be up.”
Here's what to expect when you point Files.com at your directory, from firewall rules to the day you disable an account.
Start a 7-day free trial. Point Files.com at your directory, log in with a corporate account over the browser and over SFTP, and prove directory authentication works in your environment.
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