Contents

1 Introduction to FileZilla 6
1.1 FileZilla Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 How Can I Use FileZilla? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Differences between FileZilla and FileZilla Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Common Terminology 8

3 Protocols Supported by FileZilla 11

3.1 Comparison Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 FTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 FTPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4 SFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4 Installing FileZilla 15
4.1 Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2 Windows Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3 macOS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.4 Debian Linux Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.5 Welcome Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.6 Updating FileZilla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5 Using FileZilla 26
5.1 Starting FileZilla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.2 Change the Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.3 Modify Window-minimize Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.4 Screen Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.5 Customize the Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.6 Connecting to a Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.7 Second Factor Authentication (2FA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.8 Connecting to an OAuth-based protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.9 Using Site Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

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 5.10 Navigating in FileZilla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.11 Sort Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.12 Quick search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.13 Search for files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.14 Filter Files and Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.15 Bookmark a Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.16 Transferring Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.17 Deleting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.18 Transfer Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.19 Limiting Simultaneous File Transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5.20 Setting Speed Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.21 Change Frequency of Automated Update Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.22 Tabbed Browsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

6 Troubleshooting 87
6.1 How to Speed Up File Transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.2 Include Debug Information in Message Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.3 Replacing Invalid Characters in Filenames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.4 Configure Character Set Used for a Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.5 Set Remote Server Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.6 Limit Number of Simultaneous Connections to a Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.7 Timeouts on Large Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.8 Common Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

7 Advanced Options 99
7.1 Keep Machine Awake While FileZilla is Active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7.2 Modify Startup Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7.3 Change the Icon Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
7.4 Modify Double-click Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
7.5 Protect Passwords with a Master Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
7.6 Stop FileZilla from Storing Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.7 Recover Lost Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.8 Modify New Connection Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
7.9 Bypass the Proxy Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
7.10 Configure Default Directories for a Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
7.11 Automatically Use Synchronized Browsing for a Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
7.12 Automatically Use Directory Comparison for a Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.13 Set Text Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.14 Modify Date and Time Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.15 Modify File Size Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.16 Modify File Sorting Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
7.17 Active vs Passive Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
7.18 FTP Active Mode Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7.19 Using an FTP Proxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.20 Using a Proxy Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.21 Pre-allocate Disk Space Before Download . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.22 Configure File Type Classifications for FTP and FTPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.23 Change Filestamp Comparison Threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

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7.24 Configuring MIME Type Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

7.25 Create Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.26 Export the Transfer Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.27 Import a Transfer Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.28 Export Configuration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.29 Import Configuration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
7.30 Export Site Manager Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
7.31 Import Site Manager Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
7.32 Network Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
7.33 fzdefaults.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
7.34 Preserve Timestamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

8 Copyright and Trademark Information 126

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 Introduction to FileZilla
1
FileZilla is a cross-platform file transfer application. You can run it on Windows, macOS and Debian
Linux machines. It will also run on other Linux distributions, but is not officially supported.

1.1 FileZilla Features

The features of FileZilla include:

• A number of file transfer protocols, including FTP, FTPS, and SFTP.

• Continue file transfers that have been paused or interrupted.

• Multiple concurrent server connections.

• Site Manager saves server connection and login information to allow quick reconnection.

• Drag and drop to begin file transfers.

• Compare local and remote file structures.

• Simultaneously browse local and remote file structures.

• Logging.

• Transfer speed limits for both uploads and downloads.

• Remote file search.

• Multiple languages.

• Edit remote files.

• Check and substitute for unsupported characters in file and directory names.

• Keep idle connections alive.

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1.2 How Can I Use FileZilla?

FileZilla is a utility used for transferring files from one place to another.
You can transfer files between a local machine and a server.
You can also browse the file structure on a local or remote machine, as well as modifying that file
structure: deleting, adding, or editing files and directories.

1.3 Differences between FileZilla and FileZilla Pro

FileZilla Pro contains all of the functionality of FileZilla standard version, plus it supports connec-
tions, file transfers, and file structure browsing for many cloud data storage services like Google
Drive, Amazon S3, OneDrive, Dropbox, WebDAV, Microsoft Azure, OneDrive for Business and
SharePoint, Google Cloud, Backblaze B2, Box, OpenStack Swift and Rackspace Cloud.
FileZilla Pro also supports file synchronization.
FileZilla Pro comes also with a dedicated Customer support forum where customers get prompt an-
swers to their questions, plus the manual.

1.2. How Can I Use FileZilla? 7

 Common Terminology
2
2FA
In a second factor authentication method users are granted access to a service or an applica-
tion after successfully presenting two or more pieces of information. Such factors usually are
based on something you know, have or are.
Bookmark
Bookmarks in FileZilla save the locations of directories on remote servers. You can use them to
save time in navigating complex directory structures. They’re especially useful for directories
that you use frequently. See Bookmark a Directory for more information.
Client
A client is a computer application that you use to connect your local computer to a server on
the internet. In this case, the client is FileZilla. Using it, you can add, delete, or edit files and/or
directories on the remote server.
Download
When files are transferred from a remote server to a local machine.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is a basic method for moving files between local and remote computers.
See FTP for more information.
FTPS
File Transfer Protocol with TLS is a secure version of File Transfer Protocol (standard FTP). File
transfers are encrypted between FileZilla and the server. See FTPS for more information.
Local
The machine on which FileZilla is installed, that you’re using to control file transfers.
MIME Types
MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, and it is a technique that servers use
to recognise the type of file being used, similar to the way Windows recognises files by their
file extension (eg .txt). It helps browsers to figure out what to do with a particular file when you
click on a link to it; for example, display it or download it. A MIME type typically consists of a
type and a subtype.

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Common MIME types are:

• text
• image
• audio
• video
• application
Overwrite
Copying over an existing file with one of the same name and file extension. This is a term you
will come across often in FileZilla documentation, because it is common while copying files to
come across files that you or someone else have already copied across, and you will need to
tell FileZilla how to handle this situation. One option is to copy over the existing file with a
new one that has the same filename.
Queue
See Transfer Queue.
Recursive
In terms of FileZilla, a recursive action on a directory affects all of its subdirectories and files
in them. For example, running a delete command on a directory with a number of files in it as
well as subdirectories with files in them – perhaps several levels deep – requires FileZilla to
first send a delete command for each file in the bottom layer of directories, then send a delete
command for those directories, then send a delete command for files in the second-to-bottom
layer of directories, etc, until it reaches the top layer of directories and files.
Remote
The server that FileZilla will connect to in order to modify directories and files. Often this is
geographically remote as well.
Server
A server is a computer that you can connect to via the internet. Servers can be used for a range
of activities, but for purposes of FileZilla, they’re used for uploading and downloading files. For
example, a website is generally hosted on a server or cluster of servers, and you can connect
to it via its FTP server – a computer dedicated to handling file transfers.

Note: If you want to create an FTP server, you’ll need to use a server program like FileZilla
Server.

SFTP
SSH File Transfer Protocol is a method that FileZilla can use to access and transfer files on a
server. It is based on Secure Socket Shell protocol rather than traditional File Transfer Proto-
col, so it tends to use a server’s SSH port. See SFTP for more information.
Simultaneous connections
Every time that FileZilla sends a request to a server, it needs to have an active connection open.
As it can only send one request at a time over a single connection, FileZilla can open multiple
connections with a server so that it can send more than one request at a time. Effectively, this
can mean several file transfers happening simultaneously.

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Transfer Queue
The queue – or Transfer Queue – is a list of files and directories that FileZilla has been told
to transfer from one computer to another, but which haven’t yet been transferred. For more
information, see Transfer Queue.

TLS
Transport Layer Security (TLS) encrypts communications between FileZilla and a server. This
keeps the files that you’re transferring secure from eavesdroppers while they’re in transit be-
tween your local computer and the server. TLS is used in FTPS connections.

Upload
When files are transferred from a local machine to a remote server.

User ID
Also sometimes referred to as a User Name or User Identification. This is the string of text
that an application, server, or website recognises as belonging to a particular person. Some-
times your user ID will be your email address; sometimes just a string of characters, for exam-
ple janesmith98352.

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 Protocols Supported by FileZilla
3
FileZilla supports a number of protocols to allow you the greatest possible flexibility in transferring
files. It supports:

• FTP

• FTPS

• SFTP

3.1 Comparison Table

Table 1: FileZilla protocol comparison

Protocol Encrypted Base protocol
FTP No1 FTP
FTPS Yes - TLS FTP
SFTP Yes SSH

1
By default, FileZilla attempts to use FTPS for FTP connections, and will display a warning if the remote
server doesn’t support encrypted connections.

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3.2 FTP

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It’s a method for moving files between computers, over the
internet, that has been in use for decades. FTP connections are not encrypted, which means that
your files could potentially be seen and copied by a third party.

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3.3 FTPS

FTPS stands for FTP over TLS. It’s a newer, secure version of FTP that encrypts your connection,
meaning that a third party can’t see the files that you’re moving. It uses Transport Layer Security
(TLS).

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3.4 SFTP

SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a method for transferring files between a local and remote com-
puter, like FTP and FTPS, but the difference is in how it works.
Instead of sending FTP commands, SFTP uses an extended set of SSH commands. If the server you’re
connecting to only supports FTP connections, not SSH connections, you won’t be able to use SFTP.

3.4. SFTP 14
 Installing FileZilla
4
Installing FileZilla is slightly different on each operating system.

Note: Ensure that you pay attention to where the download saves onto your local computer.

4.1 Prerequisites

Before installing FileZilla, you’ll need:

• At least 50MB of space free on your drive.

• Administrator privileges if you want to make the program available for all users on a Windows
machine.

4.2 Windows Installation

Note: You’ll require administrator privileges on the current computer if you want to install FileZilla
for all users of the machine.

1. Double-click on the FileZilla install file to start the installation.

This file will be named FileZilla_Pro_<version number>_<win64 or win32>-setup.exe: for example,
FileZilla_Pro_3.37.0_win64-setup.exe.

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2. Select whether to install FileZilla for all users of the machine, or just the current user.

3. Select the components that you want to be installed with FileZilla:

• FileZilla is the base program; this is required.

• Icon sets provide different looks for FileZilla.
• Language files allow you to run FileZilla in a language other than English.
• Shell extension allows you to drag and drop files from Windows Explorer into
FileZilla.
• Desktop icon adds a link to FileZilla to your desktop, making it easy to find and run
the program.

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4. Click Browse if you want to select an installation location. Click Next to move to the next page.

5. Pick an existing Start Menu folder to add an icon for FileZilla, or enter a new name to create a
new Start Menu folder.

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4.3 macOS Installation

1. Open your Downloads folder. Typically you can do this by selecting Go › Down-
loads from the main menu.

2. Find the FileZilla installation file. It will be named something like

FileZilla_Pro_<version-number>_macosx-x86.app.tar.bz2.

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3. Double-click on the installation file.

The file will be unzipped.

4. Drag the FileZilla icon to the taskbar so that you can easily find it again.

5. Open FileZilla.
You might see a warning, asking if you want to open the program. If you bought it
from the FileZilla website (https://filezillapro.com/) it is safe to open it.

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6. Click on Open.

4.4 Debian Linux Installation

1. Go to the directory where the installation file was downloaded

This file is named FileZilla_<version-number>_x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.bz.

2. Open the file using the extract tool.

3. Extract the files to the destination directory.

4. Go to the directory where the files were extracted.

5. Go to FileZilla3 directory.

6. Start the program using the filezilla executable in the bin/ subdirectory.

4.4.1 Launch from command line

If it fails to launch from the file manager you may need to launch from the command line. See below
how to install and launch from command line:

1. Open a terminal.

2. Change to the directory where the installation file was downloaded, for example:
cd ~/Downloads/

3. Extract the file with:

tar xf FileZilla_<version number>_x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.bz

4. Launch FileZilla with:

FileZilla3/bin/filezilla

4.4.2 To create an icon on the desktop

1. Copy the file FileZilla3/share/applications/filezilla.desktop to your Desktop direc-

tory:
cp FileZilla3/share/applications/filezilla.desktop $HOME/Desktop

2. Open the file filezilla.desktop in a text editor. Adjust the paths at Exec and Icon according
to the directory where the installation file was extracted to. For example:

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Exec=/opt/FileZilla3/bin/filezilla
Icon=/opt/FileZilla3/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/filezilla.svg

3. A shortcut icon is shown on the desktop.

4. Right-click the shortcut and choose Allow launching.

5. The shortcut now shows the FileZilla icon:

6. If you use another desktop environment, like KDE, you need to change the shortcut properties
to allow execution:
1. Right-click the shortcut.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Mark Is Executable or Allow executing file as program.

4.4.3 Make it available in the list of applications

Note that some desktop environments do not support desktop icons. In this case move the
filezilla.desktop file to your applications directory:

mv filezilla.desktop ~/.local/share/applications

The shortcut will be in the list of available applications.

4.4.4 Supported distributions

Please note that due to differences in distributions, the provided binaries for Debian Linux might not
work on different GNU/Linux systems.
The systems where FileZilla is known to work are:

• Debian 10.4 or greater

• Fedora 31 or greater

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• CentOS 8.1 or greater

• Ubuntu 20.04 or greater

• Linux Mint 20 or greater

• openSUSE Leap 15.3 or greater

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 or greater

The following distributions where FileZilla does not work:

• Ubuntu 18.04

• openSUSE Leap 15.1 and openSUSE Leap 15.2

• Linux Mint 19.3

Version 3.60.2 checked on July 27th, 2022 confirmed to work with the following versions:

• Debian 11.3 and 11.4

• Mint 20.3

• Ubuntu 21.10 and 22.04

• CentOS Stream 8

• Fedora 36

• openSUSE Leap 15.3

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.5

4.5 Welcome Screen

The Welcome screen is shown on the first run of FileZilla.

In the Welcome screen you’ll find useful information about FileZilla and how to learn more about it.

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You can open it again through the Help › Show welcome dialog menu.

4.6 Updating FileZilla

By default, FileZilla regularly checks whether updates have been released. If a new version of
FileZilla is available, New version available! will be displayed in the main menu, to the right of the
Help option.

FileZilla may also ask on startup if you wish to update to the newest version.
To update FileZilla:

4.6.1 Windows

1. If FileZilla asks if you want to update, click on Install new version. Alternatively, click on New
version available.

2. Windows might ask if you want to allow this application to run. Click on Yes.
The new version of FileZilla will be installed.

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Update from download

You can also update FileZilla using a downloaded executable file.

1. Download the most recent version of FileZilla.

2. Run the downloaded executable.

If the installation detects an older version of FileZilla, it will display a message like this:

3. Select Upgrade FileZilla using previous settings and click Next.

FileZilla will update.

4. Click Finish.

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4.6.2 macOS

1. If FileZilla asks if you want to update, click on Install new version. Alternatively, click on New
version available.

2. macOS might ask if you want to allow this application to run. Click on Open.
The new version of FileZilla will be installed.

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 Using FileZilla
5
5.1 Starting FileZilla

There are two basic ways to start FileZilla:

• From a shortcut on your computer’s desktop or the Start Menu.

• From the command line

5.1.1 Starting FileZilla from the desktop

The FileZilla icon looks like this:

Windows

During the installation process, you can choose to let the installer create a shortcut to FileZilla in the
Start Menu.
If you’re using Windows 8 or above, click on the Start Menu and type filezilla to find the shortcut.
If you selected to install the Desktop icon, a shortcut icon is available on your desktop.

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If you didn’t select to create either the Start Menu shortcut or the desktop icon, use Windows Ex-
plorer to go to the directory where FileZilla is installed and launch it from there.

macOS

If you followed the installation instructions exactly, FileZilla will be accessible from your taskbar.
You can also click on your Applications icon and scroll until you find the FileZilla icon.
Related topics:
Starting FileZilla from the command line
Modify Startup Behavior

5.1.2 Starting FileZilla from the command line

You can use the following command line parameters when starting FileZilla:

• URL: must be in the form [protocol://][user[:pass]@]host[:port][/path]. Valid protocol

specifications:
– ftp
– sftp
– ftps (implicit)
– ftpes (explicit)
– s3

• -l, --logontype: type of login in use on the server. Options available:

– ask
– interactive

Note: This parameter requires the URL parameter. FileZilla will ask for any logon
information not supplied in the URL before connecting. Useful for custom scripts
or shortcuts.

• -h, --help: shows the help dialog.

• -s, --sitemanager: start with Site Manager window displayed.

Note: This parameter may not be used with the -c or URL parameters.

• -c, --site: Connect to a site previously configured in the Site Manager. Site name require-
ments:

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– Site has to be given as complete path, with a slash as separation character.

– Any slash or backslash that is part of a segment has to be escaped with a backslash.
– Path has to be prefixed with 0 for user defined entries or 1 for default entries.
– Site path may not contain double quotation marks.

• -a, --local: Sets the local site to display the given path. Use double quotation for paths with
spaces in them.

• --close: Closes all running instances of FileZilla. (Windows only)

• --verbose: Verbose log messages from wxWidgets.

• -v, --version: Print version information to stdout and exit.

Examples

filezilla --site="0/foo/bar/sl\/ash"
Connects to the user site sl/ash in the site directory foo/bar.
filezilla --site="0/site1" --local="C:\site1 downloads"
Connects to the user site site1 and sets the local folder to C:\site1 downloads.
filezilla ftp://username:[email protected] --local="C:\example.com downloads"
Connects to example.com URL and sets the local folder to C:\example.com downloads.
Related topics:
Starting FileZilla from the desktop
Modify Startup Behavior

5.2 Change the Language

By default, FileZilla uses the current language settings from the local operating system.
If you want to change the language used in FileZilla’s interface:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Language from the menu on the left.

3. Select your preferred language from the Language list.

4. Click on OK.

5. Restart FileZilla.

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5.3 Modify Window-minimize Behavior

By default, on Windows and Linux, FileZilla minimizes to the taskbar. If you’d prefer that it minimize
to the system tray instead:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.

3. Tick the Minimize to tray checkbox.

4. Click on OK.

This option does not apply to macOS.

5.4 Screen Layout

FileZilla’s main screen includes a lot of information:

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5.4.1 1: Toolbar

FileZilla’s toolbar contains icons for the most commonly-used tasks.

Note: This guide to FileZilla’s toolbar uses the default icon set.

Click on this icon to open the Site Manager window, or click on the down arrow (Windows) or
SHIFT-click (macOS) to select a previously-configured site to connect to.

Toggles the display of the message log. By default, the message log is visible.

Toggles the display of the local directory structure. By default, the local directory structure is dis-
played.

Toggles the display of the remote directory structure. By default, the remote directory structure is
displayed.

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Toggles the display of the Transfer Queue. By default, this is displayed.

Refreshes the local and remote directory structures and file lists. This requires FileZilla to send a
directory listing request to the remote server. Hold the CTRL key while clicking this icon to clear the
remote directory cache.

Toggles processing of the Transfer Queue. If the icon is highlighted in blue, the queue is currently
being processed. If the icon is not highlighted, FileZilla is not processing the Transfer Queue. See
Start the Transfer Queue.

Cancels the current file transfer operation and pauses processing of the Transfer Queue. See Pause
the Transfer Queue

Disconnects from the current remote server. If FileZilla is currently connected to multiple servers,
clicking this icon disconnects the server in the currently-selected tab.

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Reconnects to the previous remote server.

Click on this icon to display the Directory listing filters window. Right-click (Windows) or SHIFT-click
(macOS) on this icon to enable previously-configured directory filters. See Filter Files and Directories.

Click on this icon to toggle Comparing Local and Remote files mode. Right-click on this icon to choose
commonly-used directory comparison mode options.

Toggles synchronized directory browsing. See Synchronizing browsing of local and remote directories.

Displays the File Search window. See Search for files.

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5.4.2 2: Quickconnect bar

The Quickconnect bar is most often used for one-off connections. It also holds in memory any recent
connections made via the bar since FileZilla was last started.
Enter the server address and port, and if required, your username and password for the server, then
click Quickconnect.

Reconnect to a server in the Quickconnect history

Click on the down arrow next to the Quickconnect button and select the address desired.

Clear the Quickconnect bar

To clear the current contents of the Quickconnect bar, click on the down arrow next to the Quick-
connect button and select Clear Quickconnect bar.

Clear the Quickconnect history

To remove from history all recent connections made using the Quickconnect bar, click on the down
arrow next to the Quickconnect button (Windows) or SHIFT-click (macOS) and select Clear history.

5.4.3 3: Message log

The message log displays information about the commands that FileZilla is sending the remote
server, and information that it receives in answer.
The message log below shows a failed connection attempt to a FTP server. Informational (status)
messages are shown in black, commands to the server in blue, responses from the server in green,
and errors in red.

If you have trouble connecting to a particular server, the message log might help you to figure out
why.

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5.4.4 4: Local site directory structure

This section of FileZilla displays the directory structure on the local machine - the computer that
FileZilla is installed on. If any network drives are mapped to local drive letters, these will also be
displayed in the local site directory structure.

Manually navigating the directory structure

You can move through this directory structure by clicking on directories or expanding their contents
to view all directories contained within. As you do, the local site files section will display the contents
of the currently-selected directory.

Using synchronized browsing

If sections of the local and remote file systems have the same directory structure, you can enable
synchronized browsing. As you navigate through the local directory structure, your exploration will
be mirrored on the remote file system.

5.4.5 5: Remote site directory structure

This section of FileZilla displays the directory structure on the remote server. It only displays the
directories that you have authorization to view.

Manually navigating the directory structure

You can move through this directory structure by clicking on directories or expanding their contents
to view all directories contained within. As you do, the remote site files section will display the con-
tents of the currently-selected directory.

Using synchronized browsing

If sections of the local and remote file systems have the same directory structure, you can enable
synchronized browsing. As you navigate through the remote directory structure, your exploration
will be mirrored on the local file system, or vice versa.

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5.4.6 6: Local file list

This section of FileZilla displays the directories and files located in the directory currently selected
in the Local site directory structure section.
It is affected by any filters and sorting options that you might have enabled.
Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) the column title bar to select which columns are dis-
played, and their location.

5.4.7 7: Remote file list

This section of FileZilla displays the directories and files located in the directory currently selected
in the Remote site directory structure section.
It is affected by any filters and sort options that you might have enabled.
Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) the column title bar to select which columns are dis-
played, and their location.

5.4.8 8: Transfer Queue

By default, the Transfer Queue displays the current queue of files to be transferred. For example,
if you’ve set FileZilla to copy a number of files from your home computer to your website server, it
will display a queue of files that have not yet been copied across. It does not display files and folders
queued to be deleted.
The Failed Transfers tab displays files that FileZilla tried to transfer, but for some reason couldn’t
complete.
The Successful Transfers tab displays files that FileZilla has transferred during the current session.
Click on a column header to sort the queue by entries in that column. If the queue is already sorted
by that column, this will reverse the sort order.
Resize columns by dragging the column heading separators.

5.4.9 9: Status bar

The status bar provides information about the current connection and file transfers taking place.

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Transfer type auto-detection

FileZilla displays this icon when connecting to an FTP server and detecting whether the server sup-
ports FTPS.

Encrypted/unencrypted connection

If the current connection is encrypted (for example, FTP over TLS), this symbol will be displayed. Click
on the icon to view details about the encryption used.

Speed limits

FileZilla can limit the amount of bandwidth that it uses for both uploads and downloads. This is par-
ticularly useful if you have a number of programs accessing the internet, or need to keep network
traffic down.
Hover the mouse pointer above the icon to view the current speed limit, if any.
Click on the icon to configure, enable or disable speed limits for FileZilla.

Queue size

This lists the combined size of all files queued for transfer in FileZilla.

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Download and Upload speeds

These icons will flash as data is uploaded and downloaded. You may notice that data is downloaded
even when you’re only uploading files, and vice versa – this is because replies are sent or received
with every file transfer.

5.5 Customize the Main Window

There are a number of ways that you can customize the look and feel of FileZilla to suit you, your
display media, and the work that you need to do with it.

5.5.1 Layout options

FileZilla comes with four basic layouts to choose from:

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• Classic is the default layout, with remote and local directory structure and files laid out in a
grid pattern.

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• Explorer is a grid layout that mimics a Windows Explorer look, with directory structure to the
side and file displays taking up the majority of the room.

• Widescreen is a horizontal explorer-style look, with all four panes in a single row.

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• Blackboard is another horizontal layout, with all four panes in a single row, but with remote
directory structure and files panes swapping places.

5.5.2 Change the layout of FileZilla

To change the layout for FileZilla’s main window:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.

3. Select your preferred layout from the Layout of file and directory panes drop down list.

4. Click on OK.

5.5.3 Change message log position

There are three positions available for the message log in the main window:

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• default top position.

• at the bottom of the window as a pane in the same row as the Transfer Queue.

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• as an additional tab in the Transfer Queue.

To change the position of the message log:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.

3. Select your preferred option from the Message log position drop down list.

4. Click on OK.

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5.5.4 Change position of local and remote directories and files panes

You can switch the positions of Local and Remote site panes. By default, local site information is on
the left, and remote site information on the right.
Standard layout:

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Swapped layout:

To switch local and remote information:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.

3. Tick the Swap local and remote panes checkbox.

4. Click on OK.

Related topics:
Change the Icon Set
Change the Language

5.6 Connecting to a Server

FileZilla provides a number of different ways to connect to a remote server. You can:

• Use the QuickConnect bar (FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and S3 connections only).

• Open the Site Manager and create a new site listing.

• Import a Transfer Queue from a previous session (see Import a Transfer Queue).

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5.6.1 Connecting to a server via the QuickConnect bar

You can typically find the QuickConnect bar at the top of the FileZilla main window, underneath the
toolbar.

Note: Only the last 10 connections created via the QuickConnect bar will be saved for future use.
To save a connection in the Site Manager once it’s made, see Save current connection to Site Manager.

1. Enter the address in the Host field.

If the connection requires FTP, you don’t need to include a protocol - just enter the address in
IP (eg. 192.0.2.0) or in hostname format (eg. server.example.com) format.
If the connection requires a different protocol, include it in the address - eg. ftps://192.0.2.0 or
s3://server14.amazonaws.com.

2. Enter your user ID for the connection in the Username field.

3. Enter your password in the Password field.

4. If required, enter a port number in the Port field.

5. Click on Quickconnect.

5.6.2 Save current connection to Site Manager

If you connected to a remote server via the QuickConnect bar or by importing a previous Transfer
Queue, you may want to save the connection details for future use.

1. In the menu bar, click on File › Copy current connection to Site Manager….

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2. Enter a name for the connection.

3. Click on OK.

5.6.3 Connecting to a new FTP, SFTP, or FPTS server via the Site Manager

Before connecting to a Remote server, you’ll need some connection information:

• The protocol that the server uses. This will often be FTP if you’re creating a standard website.
See Protocols Supported by FileZilla.

• The address of the server, and its port number if it uses a non-standard one.

• Your User ID for the server. This might be different to your usual login for the site. Some
servers won’t require a login, and will instead allow an anonymous connection (typically for
downloads).

• If you have a user ID, your password for the server. Like your user ID, this might be different
to your usual password for the site.

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1. In the menu bar, click on File › Site Manager….

2. Click on New Site.

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3. Enter a name for the new server. This is solely for display, so pick something that will remind
you which server it represents.

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4. Select a protocol from the Protocol drop down list. If the server uses FTPS, select FTP.

5. Enter the address for the server in the Host field. This can be in IP address format (eg.
192.0.2.0) or in hostname format (eg. server.example.com) format.

6. If required, enter a port number in the Port field.

7. If the server requires FTPS, select Use explicit FTP over TLS if available from the Encryption drop
down list. If the server does not support FTPS select Only use plain FTP (insecure). However, with
this option all the data, including the credentials, is transferred in clear text.

8. Select a login method from the Login Type drop down list. Typically, this will be Normal or
Anonymous.

9. If required, enter your user ID and password in the User and Password fields.

10. Click on OK to save the server connection details, or Connect to save the server and connect
to it.

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5.6.4 SFTP using SSH2: key based authentication

What you’ll need

Before connecting to an SFTP remote server, you’ll need some connection information:

• The address of the server, and its port number if it uses a non-standard one.

• Your user ID for the server. This might be different to your usual login for the site. Some
servers won’t require a login, and will instead allow an anonymous connection (typically for
downloads).

• If you have a user ID, your password for the server if that is required. Like your user ID, this
might be different to your usual password for the site.

There are three mechanisms for use of FileZilla with SSH2 keys:

1. In the profile settings in the Site Manager. If the SFTP Protocol is specified, it is possible to
specify the Logon Type as Key File and specify the location of the private key file (in .ppk or
.pem format – see below for conversion options from other formats.) The user is prompted for
the key file’s password if necessary.

2. In the Edit › Settings menu, you can add the key file under Connection - SFTP, and FileZilla can
then use the public key authentication in the site manager with the Interactive logon type on
connection. Note: Importing a site’s public key is not supported.

3. (Windows only) Using PuTTY tools. To allow the use of RSA/DSA key files with FileZilla, you’ll
need two tools from PuTTY: Pageant and (assuming your key file isn’t already in PPK format)
PuTTYgen.
If your key file is already in PuTTY’s PPK format you can skip this paragraph. However if your
key is in OpenSSH format, you first need to convert it to PuTTY’s PPK format. To do this, launch
PuTTYgen and from the Conversions menu, select the Import key option. Select your key and
follow the prompts to enter your pass phrase. Save your private key.
Now run Pageant. In your system tray, you’ll see the Pageant icon appear. Right-click the icon
and select Add Key and select your private key (PPK) file. Follow the prompt to enter your pass
phrase and you’re done.
Now simply launch FileZilla and connect to your server using SFTP using SSH2 with a user-
name and an empty password. Don’t forget to close pageant when you’re done.

This also works with the portable versions of FileZilla and PuTTY tools.

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Alternative method

FileZilla supports the standard SSH agents. If your SSH agent is running, the SSH_AUTH_SOCK en-
vironment variable should be set. (Note, the Normal logon type should be set for the site in order to
use the SSH agent socket.)

On a Mac

If for some reason you are not using ssh-agent and on a Mac, you don’t need to perform a ssh key
conversion. Import your key via Settings and then use Normal logon type in your site connection
definition. The imported key will get used.
The following instructions assume you have a working SSH configuration which allows you to ssh
to the same host without a password. They are adapted from a thread on superusuer.com for your
convenience:

1. Select Edit › Settings… › Connection › SFTP

2. Press the Add key file… button

3. Press CMD-Shift-G to bring up a path selection window and type ~/.ssh

4. Select the id_rsa key file and click Open (this imports the key)

5. Click OK to close the Settings dialog

6. Open File › Site Manager…

7. Select the site with which you want to use the key

8. Choose Protocol SFTP and select Logon Type Normal.

9. If the file has a password enter in the Password field.

10. Click Connect and you’ll see your files.

5.7 Second Factor Authentication (2FA)

FileZilla used in combination with FileZilla Pro Enterprise Server enables Second Factor Authenti-
cation (2FA). If the server administrator has instructed the server to request a 2FA code, the user
needs to enter the secret key provided by the server administrator in their preferred TOTP-capable
authenticator app, such as Google Authenticator.

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When connecting to the server, FileZilla prompts the user to enter the code generated by the au-
thenticator app.

FileZilla Pro Enterprise Server supports 2FA and can be configured to request the authentication
code, to learn more ask your server administrator.

5.8 Connecting to an OAuth-based protocol

The following protocols require the user to authorize FileZilla to access data and perform operations
on the user’s behalf: Google Cloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive and Box.
In those cases, FileZilla launches the default browser, then you need to authenticate and grant access.
For Box and OneDrive protocols, an authorization code is generated, sent to you through the
browser. Copy the code and paste it in FileZilla window.

If FileZilla is configured to use a master password to protect passwords, the authorization data is pre-
served and the user will not need to re-authorize every time. To learn how to use a master password,
see Protect Passwords with a Master Password

5.9 Using Site Manager

The Site Manager is where FileZilla saves server connection and login information. This is useful to
avoid entering the connection details every time. To save the current connection to Site Manager see
Save current connection to Site Manager

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To reach the Site Manager choose File › Site Manager…. Or press CTRL-S (Windows) or CMD-S (ma-
cOS).

Site entries are shown on the left side of the Site Manager. On the right side site information is shown.

5.9.1 Add a new site

To add a new site click the New site button. A new site entry is created.

Enter a name for the new site. On the right side enter the site information.

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5.9.2 Delete a site

To delete a site:

1. Click on the site name to select it or select several entries. Hold the CTRL or SHIFT keys to
select several items.

2. Click the Delete button.

3. A dialog box is shown to confirm the delete. Check the option Don’t show this dialog again to
prevent future confirmation requests.

5.9.3 Rename a site

To rename a site:

1. Click on the site name to select it.

2. Click the button Rename or press F2, or yet click the selected name a second time after a short
delay.

3. Enter a new name for the site.

5.9.4 Duplicate a site

To create a copy of one or more sites:

1. Click on the site or select the sites that will be duplicated.

2. Click the button Duplicate. A copy of the sites is created.

3. Rename the copied sites.

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5.9.5 Create a folder

In case of many connections you can organize the entries in folders:

1. Click the button New Folder.

2. Enter a name for the folder.

3. Select the site entries that will be moved to the folder.
4. Drag and drop the entries on the folder. Hold the CTRL key while dropping the entries to create
copies of them.

5. The folder and its entries are shown as sub-menus in the toolbar.

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5.9.6 Search

To search for entries:

1. Press F3.

2. A dialog box to enter a text to be searched.

3. Press OK.

4. The entries matching the entered text are selected. If the text is not found in the site names an
error message is shown.

5.9.7 Export

To export selected items as a XML file:

1. Select one or more items.

2. Right-click and choose Export.

3. Enter a file name.

The file can be later be imported in FileZilla. See also Export Site Manager Connections and Import Site
Manager Connections.

5.9.8 Tabs

General

• Background color: select the color that will be used in the background of the Local and Remote,
Directories and Files section of the main window and in the tab. See Navigating in FileZilla.

• Comments: a free area where any type information can be entered. FileZilla does not use the
comments.

Advanced

• Bypass proxy: enable if you want to bypass the default proxy. See Bypass the Proxy Server

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• Default local and remote directories: to configure the default directories displayed when con-
nected to the site. See Configure Default Directories for a Connection

• Synchronized browsing: enable synchronized browsing between local and remote directories.
See Synchronizing browsing of local and remote directories

• Directory comparison: enable comparison between local and remote directories. See Compar-
ing Local and Remote files

• Adjust server time: configure the time offset between local machine and the remote server.
See Configure server time offset

Transfer Settings

• Limit number of simultaneous connections: configure the number of simultaneous connec-

tions. See Limit Number of Simultaneous Connections to a Server

Charset (FTP, FTPS, SFTP)

• Use this to configure the character set used in this connection. See Configure Character Set Used
for a Connection

5.10 Navigating in FileZilla

Once you’ve connected to a remote server, you can navigate through the directory structure of your
local or remote machine using the Local Directories and Remote Directories sections of the main
window. The files in the selected directory are displayed in the Local files and Remote files sections
of the main window.

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5.10.1 File information displayed

By default, FileZilla displays:

• File name

• Size of file (by default, displayed in bytes)

• Type of file (based on its file extension)

• Date that the file was last modified.

5.10.2 Change the file information displayed

You can change the information that is displayed in the Local files and Remote files sections of the
main window:

1. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on a column heading.

2. Tick the columns that you want to see in that area.

3. Click on OK.

5.11 Sort Files

Files in the Local files and Remote files sections of the main window can be sorted by any of the
attributes displayed. Click on a column heading to sort files by that attribute.

5.12 Quick search

To run a quick search of files in a particular local or remote directory:

1. Navigate to the directory required.

2. Ensure that the focus is in either the Local files or Remote files section of the main window, as
needed.

3. Press CTRL-F (Windows) or CMD-F (macOS). FileZilla will display the Quick Search bar in the
bottom of the section.

4. Click on the down arrow next to the search criteria field to select search parameters:
• Case Insensitive: ignore character case when searching. For example, if enabled,
searching on document can return document109.docx, Document102.docx, and DOCU-
MENT099.docx)

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• Use Regular Expressions: allows you to use special characters to search files:
– .: use a period to substitute for a single character. For example, searching on f.ll
can return fell.txt and fill.txt.
– *: use an asterisk after a character to search for any number of that character in the
specified place in the string. For example, searching on tex*t can return tet, text,
texxt, texxxxxxxxt, etc.
– ?: use a question mark after a character to search for 0 or 1 uses of that character in
the specified place in the string. For example, searching tex?t can return tet or text,
but not texxt.
– ^: use a caret mark to search for all file names beginning with the character(s) after
it. For example, searching on ^t would return all files with names beginning with a t.
– $: use a dollar sign to search for all file names ending with the character(s) before it.
For example, searching on b$ would return all files with names ending with a b.
– \: use a backslash character to ‘escape’ the following character, telling FileZilla to
treat it as a normal character and not as a search expression. For example, if you
want to search for text files, you could search on \.txt.
• Invert filter: instead of searching for files that match the search criteria, search for files
that don’t match the criteria.

5. Enter the search criteria. FileZilla will display any files that match your search settings.

5.13 Search for files

If you need to find a particular file on the local machine or remote server:

1. Connect to the server in FileZilla.

2. In the main menu, click on Server › Search remote files. Alternatively, press the F3 key. The

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File search window will be displayed.

3. Choose the search time from the Search type radio buttons. Pick Local search if you want
FileZilla to look on your local computer (the one that you’re using), or Remote search to look
on the remote server that FileZilla is currently connected to. Select Comparative search to si-
multaneously search both your local computer and the remote server. The results are then
presented and compared.

4. Enter the directory that you want to search in. The search is recursive, meaning that FileZilla
will also search all sub-directories in the specified directory. For example, entering D:\ would
cause FileZilla to search all of D:, but entering D:\Program Files would cause FileZilla to only
search in the Program Files directory, its sub-directories, their subdirectories, and etc. In the
comparative search type you have to enter both the local and remote directories.

5. Select a search method from the Search conditions drop down list:

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• Match all of the following: FileZilla will only show a file if it meets every single search con-
dition that you’ve set.
• Match any of the following: FileZilla will display a file if it meets one or more of the search
conditions that you’ve set.
• Match none of the following: FileZilla will only display a file if it doesn’t meet the criteria
of every single search condition that you’ve set.
• Match not all of the following: FileZilla will display all files that don’t meet the criteria of
one or more of the search conditions that you’ve set.

6. Set at least one search condition.

In the first column, select what FileZilla should search on:
• Filename: Look at the name of the file, including its extension (eg. .doc). Requirements:
alphanumeric characters; can include punctuation.
• Filesize: Look at the size of the file. Requirements: numeric characters only.
• Path: Look at the names of the directory and subdirectories in which the file is found.
Requirements: alphanumeric characters; can include punctuation.
• Date: Look at the date on which the file was created or last modified. Requirements: Nu-
meric characters in YYYY-MM-DD format. For example, April 1, 2019 would be entered
as 2019-04-01. Use hyphens as separators.
In the second column, select the type of search to use:
• contains: Search for files and directories in which the name includes the text
entered. For example, searching on ‘word’ using this option could return both
My Word File.docx and Sword-and-sorcery.epub.
• is equal to: Search for files and directories with a name that exactly matches the
text entered. For example, searching on ‘word.docx’ would only return files
named word.docx.
• begins with: Search for files and directories with a name starting with the text
entered. For example, searching on ‘word’ using this option could return Word
of the Day.xls but not My Word File.docx or Sword-and-sorcery.epub.
• ends with: Search for files and directories with a name that ends with the text
entered. This includes the filename and extension; for example, searching on
‘doc’ could return caradoc and hustle.doc.
• matches regex: Use regular expressions in your search criteria.
Available search parameters:
• .: use a period to substitute for a single character. For example,
searching on f.ll can return fell.txt and fill.txt.
• *: use an asterisk after a character to search for any number of that
character in the specified place in the string. For example, searching
on tex*t can return tet, text, texxt, texxxxxxxxt, etc.
• ?: use a question mark after a character to search for 0 or 1 uses
of that character in the specified place in the string. For example,
searching tex?t can return tet or text, but not texxt.

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• ^: use a caret mark to search for all file names beginning with the
character(s) after it. For example, searching on ^t would return all
files with names beginning with a t.
• $: use a dollar sign to search for all file names ending with the char-
acter(s) before it. For example, searching on b$ would return all files
with names ending with a b.
• \: use a backslash character to ‘escape’ the following character, telling
FileZilla to treat it as a normal character and not as a search expres-
sion. For example, if you want to search for text files, you could search
on \.txt.
• does not contain: Search for files and directories that do not have the entered
text in any part of their name.
• greater than: Search for files larger than the specified size.
• equals: Look for files at the specified size, or created or modified on the date
entered. This is exact; FileZilla doesn’t include a margin of error for this option.
• does not equal: Look for files that are of any but the specified size, creation or
modification date.
• less than: Search for files smaller than the specified size.
• before: Search for files created or modified before the specified date.
• after: Search for files created or modified after the specified date.
In the third column, enter the search parameters for FileZilla to use:
• Filename and Path: Use alphanumeric characters; can include punctuation.
• Filesize: Use numeric characters only.
• Date: Use numeric characters in YYYY-MM-DD format with hyphens as separators. For
example, April 1, 2019 would be entered as 2019-04-01.
To create another search condition, click on the + button to the right and underneath the bot-
tom condition.
To delete a search condition you’ve created, click on the - to its right.

7. To make the search case-sensitive – for example, if you’ve entered lower-case letters, to ensure
that FileZilla only returns results using the lower-case string and not a combination of upper-
and lower-case, or all upper-case – tick the Conditions are case sensitive checkbox.

8. To find files that match the search criteria, tick the Find files checkbox.

9. To find directories that match the search criteria, tick the Find directories checkbox.

10. In the comparative search the comparison is based on file sizes but you can change to compare
based on the file modification time.

11. Also in the comparative search tick Hide identical files to hide the files are identical according
to the comparison criteria.

12. Click on Search to start the search process.

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Related topics:
Filter Files and Directories

5.14 Filter Files and Directories

FileZilla can filter the files and directories displayed in these sections of the main window:

• Local site directory structure

• Remote site directory structure

• Local site files in current directory

• Remote site files in current directory

To filter the files and directories displayed:

1. In the main menu, click on View › Directory listing filters…. You can also press CTRL-I on your

keyboard, or use the button on the toolbar.

2. Select which local and remote directories and files to filter out of view, and out of file transfers,
using pre-configured filters:
• Source control directories: Directories used by content and code management pro-
grams like Git, SVN and CVS.
• Useless Explorer files: Files that are used by Windows Explorer to configure local user
interface. Includes files typically hidden in Windows Explorer; for example, thumbs.db
and desktop.ini.
• Temporary and backup files: Files commonly used by programs to temporarily hold data
or keep a short-lived backup of files. Includes .tmp and .bak files.
• Configuration files: Files commonly used to hold local configuration data; for example,
.ini files.
• Show only images: This filters out all files except image files; .jpg, .jpeg, .png, and .gif files.

3. Click on OK.

Related topics:
Search for files

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5.14.1 Create a filter

1. In the main menu, click on View › Directory listing filters…. You can also press CTRL-I on your

keyboard, or click on the icon on the toolbar.

2. Click on Edit filter rules….

3. Click on New.

4. Enter a name for the filter and click OK.

5. Select a filter method from the Filter conditions drop down list:
• Filter out items matching all of the following: FileZilla will not display a file if it meets
every single filter condition that you’ve set.
• Filter out items matching any of the following: FileZilla will not display a file if it meets
one or more of the filter conditions that you’ve set.
• Filter out items matching none of the following: FileZilla will not display a file if it
doesn’t meet the criteria of every single filter condition that you’ve set.
• Filter out items matching not all of the following: FileZilla will display all files that don’t
meet the criteria of one or more of the filter conditions that you’ve set.

6. Set at least one filter condition. In the first column, select what FileZilla should use in its filter-
ing:
• Filename: Look at the name of the file, including its extension (eg. .doc).
• Filesize: Look at the size of the file.
• Attribute: Look at file attributes like whether it is hidden or a system file. In Windows,
you can check a file’s attributes by right-clicking on it, selecting Properties, and clicking
on Advanced next to the Attributes section of the General tab.
• Path: Look at the names of the directory and subdirectories in which the file is found.
• Date: Look at the date on which the file was created or last modified.
In the second column, select the type of filter to use:
• contains: Filter by whether the name of a file or directory includes the text entered. For
example, entering ‘config’ could filter out Configuration_002.ini and Config Files directory.
• is equal to: Filter by whether the name of a file or directory exactly matches the text en-
tered. For example, entering ‘word.docx’ could filter out only files named word.docx.
• begins with: Filter by whether the name of a file or directory starts with the text entered.
For example, entering ‘temp’ using this option could filter out Temporary files directory
but not myfile.temp.
• ends with: Filter by whether the name of a file or directory ends with the text entered.
This includes the filename and extension; for example, entering ‘tmp’ could filter out
startmp and wordfile.tmp.
• matches regex: Filter the name of a file matching a regular expression.

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– .: use a period to substitute for a single character. For example, entering f.ll
can filter out fell.txt and fill.txt.
– *: use an asterisk after a character to look for any number of that character
in the specified place in the string. For example, entering tex*t can filter out
tet, text, texxt, texxxxxxxxt, etc.
– ?: use a question mark after a character to look for 0 or 1 uses of that char-
acter in the specified place in the string. For example, entering tex?t can
filter out tet or text, but not texxt.
– ^: use a caret mark to look for all file names beginning with the character(s)
after it. For example, entering ^t would filter out all files with names begin-
ning with a t.
– $: use a dollar sign to look for all file names ending with the character(s) be-
fore it. For example, entering b$ would filter out all files with names ending
with a b.
– \: use a backslash character to ‘escape’ the following character, telling
FileZilla to treat it as a normal character and not as a filter expression. For
example, if you want to filter out text files, you could enter \\.txt.
• does not contain: Filter files and directories that do not have the entered text in any part
of their name.
• greater than: Filter files larger than the specified size.
• equals: Filter files at the specified size, or created or modified on the date entered. This
is exact; FileZilla doesn’t include a margin of error for this option.
• does not equal: Filter files that are of any but the specified size, creation or modification
date.
• less than: Filter files smaller than the specified size.
• before: Filter files created or modified before the specified date.
• after: Filter files created or modified after the specified date.
• Filters usable only for local files and Windows systems:
– Archive: Filter files based on whether they have been marked as archived.
– Compressed: Filter files based on whether they have been compressed. .zip and
.tar.gz are common extensions for compressed files.
– Encrypted: Filter files based on whether they are marked as having been en-
crypted.
– Hidden: Filter files based on whether they are marked as hidden.
In the third column, enter or select the filter parameters for FileZilla to use:
• Filename and Path: Use alphanumeric characters; can include punctuation.
• Filesize: Use numeric characters only.
• Attribute: Select is set or is unset from the drop down list.
• Date: Use numeric characters in YYYY-MM-DD format with hyphens as separators.
For example, April 1, 2019 would be entered as 2019-04-01.

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To create another filter condition, click on the + button to the right and underneath the bottom
condition.
To delete a filter condition you’ve created, click on the - to its right.

Examples

A graphic designer creates .psd files and exports them as .jpg and .png files. When updating the web-
site, she needs to upload the .png files, but neither of the other formats. To achieve this, she takes the
following steps:

1. Creates a new filter.

2. Enters the name Production images only and clicks on OK.

3. Selects Filter out items matching any of the following from the Filter conditions drop down list.

4. Selects Filename from the first column.

5. Selects ends with from the second column.

6. Enters .psd in the third column.

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7. Clicks on the + button.

8. Selects Filename from the first column.

9. Selects ends with from the second column.

10. Enters .jpg in the third column.

11. Clicks on OK.

12. Ticks the Production images only filter’s checkbox on the Local filters side.

13. Clicks on OK.

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5.14.2 Comparing Local and Remote files

Allows you to compare files between your local machine and the remote server. You can configure
FileZilla to compare files based on either file size or last modification date.

Note: Using directory comparison automatically enables synchronized browsing, so that every di-
rectory change you make on one server is echoed for the other.

Prerequisites

Filtering must be either disabled or set identically for local and remote directories.

Color coding

None: Identical in name, date last modified, and size.

Yellow: Not existing in the other location.
Green: Newer file (last modified date is later than the file it’s compared to).
Red: Different file size.
To compare the directories on your local machine and those on a remote server:

1. In the main menu, click on View › Directory comparison › Enable.

2. Choose whether to compare based on file size or date by clicking on View › Directory compar-
ison › Compare filesize or View › Directory comparison › Compare modification time.

3. If you only want to see files that have differences between local and remote directories, click
on View › Directory comparison › Hide identical files.

Related topics:
Synchronizing browsing of local and remote directories

5.14.3 Synchronizing browsing of local and remote directories

You can configure FileZilla to echo any directory navigation between local machine and remote
server. This can be useful where you have the same or very similar directory structure on each; for ex-
ample, if you have a local version of a website that you upload to the production version on a remote
server.

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Prerequisites

Filtering must be either disabled or set identically for local and remote directories.
To synchronize browsing of the directories on your local machine and those on a remote server:

1. In the main menu, click on View › Synchronized browsing. Alternatively, press CTRL-Y on your

keyboard or click on the icon in the toolbar.

5.15 Bookmark a Directory

You can make it easier to reach frequently-used directories by creating bookmarks. A Bookmark holds
information for both a local and remote directory, and your directory navigation preferences.
There are two types of bookmarks:

• Global bookmarks can be used on multiple sites. Use these if you connect to a number of re-
mote sites with the same directory structure where you want to put a bookmark. It’s essen-
tially a relative path.

• Site-specific bookmarks are used on one site only.

Note: Bookmarks contain information about the location, but they don’t contain connection infor-
mation like server address and login credentials. Connection information is stored in the Site Man-
ager. To use a bookmark, first connect to a remote site, then select the bookmark.

To create a bookmark:

1. Open a connection and navigate to the local and remote directories that you want to save in a
bookmark.

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2. In the main menu, click on Bookmarks › Add bookmark…. Alternatively, press CTRL-B.

3. Select either Global bookmark or Site-specific bookmark from the Type option group.

4. Enter a name for the bookmark. This will be displayed in the Bookmark menu.

5. Check the Local directory field. If you want to change it, enter a local directory or click
Browse… to navigate to the desired local directory.

6. Check the Remote directory field. Note that it doesn’t contain all server and drive information;
just the directory path post-connection. Modify if needed, but be careful to keep the same
format.

7. To automatically enable synchronized browsing when you select this bookmark (see Synchro-
nizing browsing of local and remote directories), tick the Use synchronized browsing checkbox.

8. To automatically enable directory comparison when you select this bookmark (see Comparing
Local and Remote files), tick the Directory comparison checkbox.

9. Click on OK.

To use a bookmark:

1. Open a connection to the remote server.

2. In the main menu, click on Bookmarks and the name of the bookmark you want to use.

5.16 Transferring Files

FileZilla copies files from one location to another using the Transfer Queue. This holds a list of all files
to be transferred.
There are a few different ways that you can mark files for transfer:

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5.16.1 Drag and drop

1. Select the files that you want to transfer. Use the SHIFT key to select a block of files; use the
CTRL key (Windows) or CMD key (macOS) to select multiple non-sequential files.

2. Use your mouse to click and drag the selected files into the desired directory on the other site.

FileZilla will add these files to the Transfer Queue and start the transfer immediately.

5.16.2 Select and add to queue

1. Select the files that you want to transfer. Use the SHIFT key to select a block of files; use the
CTRL key (Windows) or CMD key (macOS) to select multiple non-sequential files.

2. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the selected files and click on Add files to
queue.

FileZilla will add these files to the Transfer Queue, but not start the transfer.

5.16.3 Select and start immediate transfer

1. Select the files that you want to transfer. Use the SHIFT key to select a block of files; use the
CTRL key (Windows) or CMD key (macOS) to select multiple non-sequential files.

2. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the selected files and click on Upload.

FileZilla will add these files to the Transfer Queue and start the transfer immediately.

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5.16.4 Manual Transfer

1. Choose Transfer › Manual Transfer:

2. Select Download or Upload.

3. Choose both the local file and the remote path and file.

4. Select the server:

• The currently connected server.
• A server from the ones available in the Site Manager.
• A custom server connection. In this case enter the custom server details on the right side.

5. For FTP or FTPS transfers select the data type.

6. Check the option Start transfer immediately otherwise the transfer will be added to the
queue.

7. Click on OK

Related topics:
Change default ‘file exists’ behavior
Transfer Queue

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5.17 Deleting Files

FileZilla can delete files from the remote server. It might take a while; it requires a single command
to be sent for every file and directory in the selection.

1. Select the files that you want to delete. Use the SHIFT key to select a block of files; use the
CTRL key (Windows) or CMD key (macOS) to select multiple non-sequential files.

2. Press the DELETE key (Windows) or FN-DELETE (macOS) on your keyboard, or right-click
(Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the selection and click on Delete.

5.18 Transfer Queue

This is FileZilla’s Transfer Queue:

By default, the Transfer Queue displays the current queue of files to be transferred. For example,
if you’ve set FileZilla to copy a number of files from your home computer to your website server, it
will display a queue of files that have not yet been copied across. It does not display files and folders
queued to be deleted.
The Failed Transfers tab displays files that FileZilla tried to transfer, but for some reason couldn’t
complete.
The Successful Transfers tab displays files that FileZilla has transferred during the current session.

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5.18.1 Viewing the Transfer Queue

You can find the Transfer Queue at the bottom of the main FileZilla window (highlighted portion):

The Transfer Queue displays information about each file. Columns include:

• Server/Local file: The name and location of the file on your local network.

• Direction: Whether the file will be copied from your local computer to a remote server, or from
a remote server to your local computer. Double arrows (-->> and <<--) indicate immediate
files; single arrows (--> and <--) indicate queued files.

• Remote file: The name and location of the file on the remote server.

• Size: The size of the file.

• Priority: The priority assigned to copying the file. Generally, this will be Normal.

• Status: Any file transfer status information applicable to the file.

• Time: The date and time that a transfer completed successfully or failed.

• Reason: If the file transfer failed, this will provide some information about why it failed.

5.18.2 Immediate vs queued files

File transfers can be classified as ‘immediate’ or ‘queued’.

Queued files: Added to a queue of files to be transferred in the future. Queue processing needs to be
triggered before these files will be transferred.
Immediate files: Listed for immediate transfer. Creating immediate transfers acts as a queue process-
ing trigger, with immediate files prioritised over queued files. If the transfer is interrupted, immediate
files are converted to queued files.

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For example, if you right-click on a file and select Download or Upload, FileZilla Pro will class it as an
immediate transfer and give it priority over queued files. If you right-click a file and select Add files to
queue, FileZilla will class it as a queued file.

5.18.3 Sorting the Transfer Queue

You can sort the Transfer Queue by any of the column headings by clicking on the column title. This will
sort all entries in either alphabetic or numeric ascending order, depending on the data in the column.
For example, clicking on the Remote file column title will sort the queue by file location and name. To
sort entries in descending order, hold down the SHIFT key and click on the relevant column title.
Failed transfers and Successful transfers tabs cannot be sorted.

5.18.4 Set action when the Transfer Queue is completed

You can configure FileZilla to perform a single action once all Transfer Queue actions have been com-
pleted. For example, you might want to start transferring a large number of files and then leave the
office; and you want the computer to automatically shut down once the file transfer is completed.

Note: This action will apply to any Transfer Queue until you change it manually, unless the word
‘once’ is used in the action name; for example, Suspend system once.

Shut down computer

FileZilla will send a shutdown command to the operating system once the Transfer Queue is finished.
However, if other applications or processes are still running at the time, these may block the shut-
down and keep the computer running.

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Shutdown system once.

Suspend computer

FileZilla will send a suspend command to the operating system once the Transfer Queue is finished.
However, if other applications or processes are still running at the time, these may block the suspen-
sion and keep the computer awake.

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Suspend system once.

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Reboot computer

FileZilla will send a reboot/restart command to the operating system once the Transfer Queue is fin-
ished. However, if other applications or processes are still running at the time, these may block the
reboot and keep the computer running instead.

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Reboot system once.

Show notification

FileZilla will send a notification message through the operating system once the Transfer Queue is
finished. On Windows, the message will look similar to this:

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Show notification bubble.

Flash program icon

If you have FileZilla minimised when the Transfer Queue is finished, the program icon on your taskbar
will flash to get your attention.

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Request attention.

Close FileZilla

FileZilla will close itself once the Transfer Queue is finished. There are two different options for this:
Close FileZilla and Close FileZilla once. Selecting Close FileZilla will make that the default action ev-
ery time FileZilla finishes a Transfer Queue; selecting Close FileZilla once will only affect the current
Transfer Queue.

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Close FileZilla or Action after queue completion ›
Close FileZilla once.

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Run a program

FileZilla will run an executable file once the Transfer Queue is finished. To make use of this option,
you’ll need to know the file location, name, and any required arguments.

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Run command….

3. Enter the file location, name, and arguments.

4. Click OK.

Play a sound

FileZilla will play a sound when the Transfer Queue is finished.

1. In the file Transfer Queue, right-click on a server or file name.

2. Select Action after queue completion › Play sound.

The sound file used is called finished.wav and can be found in the resources folder in FileZilla’s instal-
lation folder. In Windows, this is typically C:\Program Files\FileZilla\resources. If you want a
different sound played, copy over this file with your preferred sound file in .wav format.

5.18.5 Remove files from the Transfer Queue

Remove files from the Transfer Queue to keep them from being transferred.
To remove only one or some of the files in the Transfer Queue:

1. Select the file(s) to be removed. Use the SHIFT or CTRL (Windows) or CMD (macOS) key to
select multiple files.

2. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the selection.

3. Click on Remove selected.

To remove all files being transferred to or from a specific server from the Transfer Queue:

1. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the server name.

2. Click on Stop and remove all.

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5.18.6 Remove successful transfers from the queue history

If you want to export a list of unsuccessful file transfers, you can set FileZilla to automatically remove
successful file transfers:

1. In the Transfer Queue, click on the Successful transfers tab.

2. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) and select Automatically remove successful

transfers.

5.18.7 Repeat file transfers

FileZilla allows you to repeat file transfers that are displayed in the Successful transfers or Failed
transfers tabs.
To repeat the transfers of only one or some of the files in the Transfer Queue:

1. Select the file(s). Use the SHIFT or CTRL (Windows) or CMD (macOS) key to select multiple
files.

2. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the selection.

3. Click on Reset and requeue selected files.

To repeat all transfers for a server:

1. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the server name.

2. Click on Reset and requeue selected files.

Requeued files will be added to the file Transfer Queue.

Past file transfers can be repeated by importing the file Transfer Queue from an XML file. See Export
the Transfer Queue and Import a Transfer Queue.

5.18.8 Change file transfer priority

File transfer priority organises the Transfer Queue and transfers files of highest priority first. To
change the transfer priority for one or more files:

1. Select the file(s). Use the SHIFT or CTRL (Windows) or CMD (macOS) key to select multiple
files.

2. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the selection.

3. Click on Select priority and choose a priority level from Highest to Lowest.

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You can also set the transfer priority for a particular server; for example, if you’re transferring files
to two different websites, and you want all of one website’s files to be processed first:

1. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the server name.

2. Click on Select priority and choose a priority level from Highest to Lowest.

5.18.9 Change default ‘file exists’ behavior

When copying files from one location to another, FileZilla needs to know what to do if a file with the
same name and extension already exists in the destination.
The available options are:

• Ask for action: Ask you what to do every time this occurs.

• Overwrite file: Overwrite the destination file every time.

• Overwrite file if source file newer: Overwrite the file in the destination if the file being trans-
ferred is time-stamped with a later date/time. Note: the date and time on local and remote
machines need to be synchronised in order for this to work correctly. If they differ, ensure that
you configure the server time offset before transferring files. See Configure server time offset.

• Overwrite file if size differs: Overwrite the destination file if there is a size difference between
the destination file and the file being transferred.

• Overwrite file if size differs or source file is newer: This is a combination of the previous two
options. The destination file will be overwritten if there is a size difference between it and the
file being transferred, or if the file being transferred is time-stamped with a later date/time.
Note: the date and time on local and remote machines need to be synchronised in order for
this to work correctly. If they differ, ensure that you configure the server time offset before
transferring files. See Configure server time offset.

• Resume file transfer: Assume that a previous file transfer was stopped mid-transfer, and con-
tinue transferring the file. This option is particularly useful when large files are being trans-
ferred or the connection is slow or unreliable.

• Rename file: Transfer the file, but don’t overwrite the existing destination file; instead a dialog
box is presented where the user can enter the new name for the file being transferred:

• Skip file: Don’t transfer the file. Skip to the next file in the queue instead.

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Example

Anne’s company has a website on a remote server. She’s been working on an updated design, so she
has a number of files to upload to the remote server. Some of the files have been updated; for these,
she needs to overwrite the remote files. Any new files, she wants to transfer across. Most of the
files are the same or older, though; she doesn’t want to transfer those. So Anne wants to set FileZilla
to overwrite files on the remote server that are older than those being transferred from her local
machine. She would use the Overwrite file if source file newer option.

Configure default setting

To change the default ‘file exists’ behavior for all sessions and servers:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. In the menu on the left of the Settings window, click on Transfers › File exists action.

3. Select a default action for downloads – file transfers from a remote server to your local ma-
chine.

4. Select a default action for uploads – file transfers from your local machine to a remote server.

5. Click on OK.

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Configure setting for current session

To change the ‘file exists’ behavior for the existing session – ie, the behavior will revert to the default
when you next open FileZilla:

1. In the main menu, click on Transfer › Default file exists action….

2. Select a default action for downloads – file transfers from a remote server to your local ma-
chine.

3. Select a default action for uploads – file transfers from your local machine to a remote server.

4. Click on OK.

Configure setting for a server in the file Transfer Queue

To change the ‘file exists’ behavior for all files currently queued to be transferred to or from a specific
server:

1. In the Transfer Queue, right-click on the server name.

2. Select Default file exists action….

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3. Select a default action for downloads – file transfers from a remote server to your local ma-
chine.

4. Select a default action for uploads – file transfers from your local machine to a remote server.

5. Click on OK.

5.18.10 Configure server time offset

If your local machine and the remote server have different time settings, this can interfere with the
overwrite settings. To avoid problems, like inadvertently overwriting newer files, FileZilla needs to
know the difference in time settings between your local machine and the remote server. This is called
the ‘time offset’.
To configure the time offset for a server:

1. In the main menu, click on File › Site Manager.

2. Click on the site that you want to configure.

3. Click on the Advanced tab.

4. Find the Adjust server time, offset by setting at the bottom of the tab.

5. Adjust hours and minutes forward or backward as needed. For example, if the remote server
time was 1.5 hours behind your local machine’s time, you would set Hours to -1 and Minutes
to -30.

6. Click on OK to save the time offset.

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Note: Changes made in the Site Manager only apply to files added to the queue after FileZilla recon-
nects to the site using the changed information.

5.18.11 Clear the Transfer Queue

To remove all files queued to be transferred to and from a remote server:

1. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the Transfer Queue.

2. Select Stop and remove all.

5.18.12 Pause the Transfer Queue

To pause all files being transferred without clearing the Transfer Queue:

1. In the main menu, select Transfer › Process Queue.

To pause files being transferred to or from a specific server:

1. Right-click on the Transfer Queue.

2. Select Process Queue.

If Process Queue is ticked, files are currently being transferred. If it is not ticked, the queue is cur-
rently paused.

5.18.13 Start the Transfer Queue

To start or restart transferring files in the Transfer Queue:

1. In the main menu, select Transfer › Process Queue.

To restart files being transferred to or from a specific server:

1. Right-click on the Transfer Queue.

2. Select Process Queue.

If Process Queue is ticked, files are currently being transferred. If it is not ticked, the queue is cur-
rently paused.

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5.18.14 Change transfer speed display

By default, FileZilla displays an average transfer speed calculated over the entire transfer so far.
If you’d prefer to have FileZilla display the transfer speed at the current moment instead:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.

3. Tick the Display momentary transfer speed instead of average speed checkbox.

4. Click on OK.

5.19 Limiting Simultaneous File Transfers

FileZilla can run up to 10 file transfers - uploads or downloads - at a time. However, on slow or
heavily-used networks and internet connections, you might want to decrease the number of file
transfers happening at one time. There are three ways to do this:

• Limit the overall number of simultaneous transfers (uploads and downloads combined)

• Limit the number of simultaneous uploads

• Limit the number of simultaneous downloads

To change the number of simultaneous file transfers that FileZilla can run:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Transfers from the menu on the left.

3. Set a maximum number of simultaneous transfers.

4. If desired, set a limit for simultaneous uploads and simultaneous downloads. These options
are still limited by the maximum simultaneous transfers setting; for example, if the Maximum
simultaneous transfers option is set to 2 and Limit for concurrent uploads is set to 10, FileZilla
will still only allow at most 2 simultaneous uploads.

5. Click on OK.

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5.20 Setting Speed Limits

If you need to limit the amount of bandwidth that FileZilla uses, you can set a speed limit.
To configure a speed limit in FileZilla:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Transfers from the menu on the left.

3. Tick the Enable speed limits checkbox.

4. Enter a Download limit and Upload limit.

5. Click on OK.

To turn speed limits on and off, you can click on the button in the status bar.

5.21 Change Frequency of Automated Update Checks

By default, FileZilla checks for program updates once a week, and looks only for stable updates - not
beta or nightly build updates. It’s recommend that you use stable versions of FileZilla only, unless
you want to test new features that may not be reliable yet.
If you’d like to change the frequency of update checks:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Updates from the menu on the left.

3. Select a frequency from the Check for FileZilla updates automatically drop down list.

4. Click on OK.

If you set the frequency to Never, FileZilla may still prompt for an update if the update was previously
detected or because enough time has elapsed.

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5.22 Tabbed Browsing

Tabbed browsing allows you to have multiple connections at the same time.
To add a tab:

• Choose File › New tab

In the new tab you can open a new connection. Each tab is independent and can show different local
files.
You can configure FileZilla to restore the tabs and reconnect on startup. With this option enabled
FileZilla will reopen the tabs and reestablish all connections:

1. Choose Edit › Settings

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left
3. Mark the option Restore tabs and reconnect
4. Click on OK

You can also configure FileZilla to create always a new tab when opening a new connection:

1. Choose Edit › Settings

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left
3. In the dropdown box When starting a new connection while already connected select the
option Connect in a new tab
4. Click on OK

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6
6.1 How to Speed Up File Transfers

If your internet connection is slow, there’s often not much you can do to increase the actual speed of
the connection – but how FileZilla uses that connection can make a difference to your file transfer
rates.

6.1.1 If you have lots of small files

Set FileZilla to use the maximum number of simultaneous file transfers (see Limiting Simultaneous File
Transfers). Also check the simultaneous upload/download limits, and increase the relevant option.
This can help because with very small files, often the major time-sink is actually the commands and
feedback passed between local and remote machines; not the actual file transfers themselves. Run-
ning a number of file transfers at the same time means that data flows more smoothly instead of in
little stops and starts.

6.1.2 If you have very large files

The advice for this situation is opposite to that of the previous example. Decrease the simultaneous
transfers (see Limiting Simultaneous File Transfers) to 1 or 2.
With very large files being transferred, the majority of the data and time used is in transferring the
files themselves. Decreasing simultaneous transfers minimizes the chance of encountering transfer
hazards like timeouts.

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6.1.3 If your connection is unreliable

If you notice that FileZilla is frequently losing connection and having to restart transfers, especially
for large files, set the default file exists action to Resume file transfer (see Change default ‘file exists’
behavior).

6.2 Include Debug Information in Message Log

If you’re having trouble with a particular connection or feature, you can configure FileZilla to include
debug information in the message log:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Debug from the menu on the left.

3. Select a debug level from the Debug information in message log drop down list.

4. Click on OK.

Enabling this option might cause the user interface to become unresponsive under load. Eventually,
the user interface becomes responsive again when the activity ends.
This option resets if FileZilla is restarted.

6.3 Replacing Invalid Characters in Filenames

If you’re transferring files between two different operating systems or regions, you may run into
problems with different character sets being enabled for each.
FileZilla can check the names of files being downloaded for characters that are invalid on the local
operating system and replace them with a valid character.
To configure this:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Transfers from the menu on the left.

3. Tick the Enable invalid character filtering checkbox.

4. Enter a character to use when replacing invalid characters.

5. Click on OK.

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6.4 Configure Character Set Used for a Connection

FileZilla usually detects the character sets supported by a remote server and modifies file names
accordingly. To configure FileZilla to use a specific character set for a specific connection:

1. Open the Site Manager.

2. Select the connection to modify.

3. Click on the Charset tab.

4. Select the Use custom charset option.

5. Enter a character set code. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_encoding Common_

character_encodings for common character sets.

6. Click on OK.

6.5 Set Remote Server Type

While FileZilla can usually automatically detect the operating system running on a remote server, on
occasion this might need to be configured manually.
To manually set the remote server’s operating system:
To configure FileZilla to use synchronized browsing when it connects to a specific remote server:

1. Open the Site Manager.

2. Select the connection to modify.

3. Click on the Advanced tab.

4. Select the operating system from the Server Type list.

5. Click on OK.

6.6 Limit Number of Simultaneous Connections to a Server

To limit the number of simultaneous file transfer connections that FileZilla opens to a specific remote
server:

1. Open the Site Manager.

2. Select the connection to modify.

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3. Click on the Transfer Settings tab.

4. Tick the Limit number of simultaneous connections checkbox.

5. Enter a number in the Maximum number of connections field.

6. Click on OK.

6.7 Timeouts on Large Files

If you can transfer small files without any issues, but transfers of larger files end with a timeout, a
broken router and/or firewall may exist between the client and the server and is causing a problem.
FTP uses two TCP connections: a control connection to submit commands and receive replies, and
a data connection for actual file transfers. It is the nature of FTP that during a transfer the control
connection stays completely idle.
The TCP specifications do not set a limit on the amount of time a connection can stay idle. Unless
explicitly closed, a connection is supposed to remain alive indefinitely. However, many routers and
firewalls automatically close idle connections after a certain period of time. For FTP, this means that
during a long transfer the control connection can get dropped because it is detected as idle, but nei-
ther client nor server are notified. So when all data has been transferred, the server assumes the
control connection is alive, and it sends the transfer confirmation reply. Likewise, the client thinks
the control connection is alive, and it waits for the reply from the server. But since the control con-
nection got dropped without notification, the reply never arrives and eventually the connection will
time out.
In an attempt to solve this problem, the TCP specifications include a way to send keep-alive packets
on otherwise idle TCP connections, to tell all involved parties that the connection is still alive and
needed. However, these keep-alive packets should not be sent more often than once every two hours.
Therefore, with added tolerance for network latency, connections can stay idle for up to 2 hours and
4 minutes.
However, many routers and firewalls drop connections that have been idle for less than 2 hours and 4
minutes. In other words, all routers and firewalls that are dropping idle connections too early cannot
be used for long FTP transfers. To solve this problem, you need to uninstall affected firewalls and
replace the faulty routers.

6.8 Common Errors

6.8.1 Connection timeout

There are a few different reasons that a connection timeout can occur:

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Slow or unreliable connection

Somewhere between your Local machine and the host server is a slow or unreliable connection.
To counter this:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. From the menu on the left, select Connection.

3. Increase the number in the Timeout in seconds field.

4. Click on OK.

Incorrectly configured server

If the connection times out on large file transfers, a server somewhere between your local computer
and the Remote server might be incorrectly configured, identifying the command channel of the con-
nection as ‘idle’, and closing it. This is a misconfiguration, and ideally should be handled by opening a
support ticket with the owner of the server.
You might be able to counter it temporarily:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. From the menu on the left, select Connection › FTP.

3. Tick the Send FTP keep-alive commands checkbox.

4. Click on OK.

6.8.2 Critical error: Could not connect to server

This error usually means that the login details or method set for a Remote connection are incorrect.
Check:

• The user ID and password that you entered. Note that for many website hosting providers,
the user ID and password that you use to login to the website itself will be different to the
user ID and password that you need for file transfer connections. Look for FTP or SFTP or SSH
connection details in information provided by the hosting provider.

• The type of login configured for this site. In the Site Manager, select the connection and check
the Logon Type drop down list. Most servers will refuse Anonymous automatically.

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Status: Connection attempt failed with "ECONNREFUSED - Connection refused by server"

message

If the connection is failing with the status message above, there might be a Local network configura-
tion issue.
FileZilla has a network configuration wizard that can find common issues in network and router set-
tings.
To diagnose:

1. In the main menu of FileZilla, click on Edit › Network configuration wizard….

2. Click on Next.

3. Enter details as requested - if you’re unsure, you can usually use the default configuration set-
tings and just click Next at each screen.

Once FileZilla has gathered all the configuration information it needs, it will perform a test connec-
tion on a test server run by the FileZilla team. If the test connection works with no errors, then the
problem probably exists on the remote site that you’re trying to connect to.
Another possible cause is that the connection is being blocked by a firewall. If you have a local fire-
wall or an antivirus, try to disable it. If that works you may need to add an exception to the firewall
configuration to grant FileZilla permanent access to the network.
If you are in a corporate network, you may need to ask the network administrator to open specific
FTP ports. Most FTP servers use port 21, SFTP servers use port 22 and FTPS (implicit mode) use port
990 by default.

6.8.3 Login failure

There are a couple of reasons that your login might fail for a particular server:

Incorrect credentials

Check that you’re using the FTP login details provided by your server administrator or hosting
provider. These will generally be different to the login details you use to gain access to website func-
tionality or your website hosting account.

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Caps lock is enabled

If caps lock is turned on, your login information might be in the wrong case. Check your keyboard’s
Caps Lock indicator.

Excess white space

Even if you’ve copied and pasted your User ID and password, problems can still occur. A space before
or after a user ID or password can creep in when you copy text from an email or file. These spaces
generally won’t be automatically stripped by the server, because they could be a legitimate part of
your credentials.

Firewall or antivirus is blocking FileZilla

Some firewall and antivirus programs block file transfer connections by injecting false login failures.
Check the settings on any firewall or antivirus scanning programs, or check with your network ad-
ministrator to see if this might be happening to you.

Issue on the server end

If you’ve checked all of these possibilities, and you’re still having trouble logging in, contact your
server administrator or hosting provider.

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6.8.4 Insecure server, it does not support FTP over TLS

While not strictly an error this status message indicates you are trying to connect to a FTP server
which does not support TLS. In this case you have to change the connection encryption configuration
to Only use plain FTP (insecure).

However, with this option all the data, including the credentials, is transferred in clear text.

6.8.5 Files aren’t transferred or deleted

A failure to transfer or delete a file on a remote server is generally caused by permissions or a lock
set on the file.

File permissions don’t allow the current operation

Copy the displayed error message and contact your server administrator or server hosting provider
for assistance. Include the text of the error message, as it may assist the person handling the help
request.

The directory is protected

Check the directory that you’re trying to transfer files to. Is it protected, or a system directory? Try
transferring a file to a different directory.

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The file is open in another program

Windows machines tend to lock files that are currently being used by an application. While the file is
locked, FileZilla won’t be able to transfer it. Try again when the file is not open in another application.

6.8.6 Directory listings and file transfers fail

If you can connect to a remote server in FileZilla using FTP or FTP with TLS, but not see remote direc-
tory listings or transfer files, there is probably something between FileZilla and the remote server
that is interfering with the connection. Generally this will be a virus scanner, firewall, or NAT router.
Use FTP Test at https://ftptest.net/ to find out where in the connection the problem lies.
If the test connection fails, the problem is on the Remote end – talk to your system administrator or
hosting provider for assistance.
If the test connection succeeds, then the problem is probably on your Local computer or network.
Some steps that you can take to diagnose the problem are:

• Check your local computer’s antivirus software. Its settings, list of blocked applications, or
logs might show that it has blocked FTP commands from FileZilla.

• Check your local computer’s firewall, if one is enabled. Most modern Windows machines have
a native firewall enabled by default; open Windows Defender Security Center (Windows 10)
and click on Firewall & network protection to check firewall settings or to configure the fire-
wall to let FileZilla access remote servers.

• Are you using active-mode FTP? (see Active vs Passive Mode) If so, you may need to configure
the NAT router to allow it. See FTP Active Mode Configuration for instructions, or go to https:
//wiki.filezilla-project.org/Network_Configuration for a more in-depth discussion of network
configuration.

• Is your internet service provider blocking FTP transfers using an ISP-level firewall or NAT
router? If so, your only option might be to switch to a different ISP.

6.8.7 Uploads fail but downloads work

If you can download files from a remote server but not upload to, the most common reason is that
the server has run out of disk space, or you’ve exceeded a storage quota assigned to the FTP user or
group (for example, your company). If you think this might be the problem, try deleting some files
from the remote server and try again to upload files.
Depending on the server, you might be able to check the disk space currently available to you in a
user dashboard. If not, check with your web hosting service or server administrator.
Very occasionally, a server’s file system might experience technical difficulties to the point that all
files are read-only – you can look at them and download them, but no changes can be made to existing
files or new files added. Contact your server administrator or web hosting provider for assistance.

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6.8.8 Local files not displayed

This is typically a problem in macOS, where FileZilla has been purchased from the Mac App Store. As
a standard security measure, Apple’s Sandbox denies local file system access to apps from the App
Store.
To grant access to local files:

1. Select Edit › Directory access permissions.

2. Add the directories that you want FileZilla to access.

3. Click on OK.

6.8.9 FileZilla always asks for updates

If you find that FileZilla is asking you to update it even when you’ve only just updated it, you might
have multiple versions of FileZilla installed on your computer.
To remedy this, look for multiple versions of FileZilla.

Windows

• Check Program Files and Program Files (x86), by default located on C: (your computer might
differ).
To remove the older version(s):
1. Enter the directory.
2. Run uninstall.exe.

• Look in your Start Menu for more than one FileZilla entry.

To remove the older version(s):

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1. Click on the version you don’t want.

2. Select Uninstall.

• In Windows 10, check Apps and Features for multiple FileZilla versions.

To remove the older version(s):

1. Click on the program name.

2. Select Uninstall.

macOS

• Look in your Applications for more than one FileZilla entry.

To remove the older version(s):

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1. CTRL-click on Applications and select Options › Show in Finder.

2. Double-click on Applications.
3. CTRL-click on the older version and select Move to Trash.

Related topics:
Bypass the Proxy Server

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7.1 Keep Machine Awake While FileZilla is Active

To prevent the local computer going into sleep mode during a file transfer or other FileZilla process:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.
3. Tick the Prevent system from entering idle sleep during transfers and other operations
checkbox.
4. Click on OK.

7.2 Modify Startup Behavior

By default, FileZilla does not start any operations, like remote connections or file transfers, automat-
ically on start-up.
If you want to change this behavior:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.
3. Select an option from the On startup of FileZilla radio buttons.
4. Click on OK.

Related topics:
Starting FileZilla from the desktop
Starting FileZilla from the command line

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7.3 Change the Icon Set

FileZilla comes with a number of icon sets that you can use. You can change the icon set used, or
change the size of the icons.
To modify the icon set:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › Themes from the menu on the left.

3. Select an icon set from the Theme drop down list.

4. If desired, modify the scale to suit.

5. Click on OK.

7.4 Modify Double-click Behavior

By default, if an active connection exists, FileZilla transfers a file when you double-click on it. When
you double-click on a directory, default behavior is to open it and display its contents.
To change FileZilla’s behavior on double-click:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › File lists from the menu on the left.

3. Select a behavior from the Double-click action on files drop down list.

4. Select a behavior from the Double-click action on directories drop down list.

5. Click on OK.

7.5 Protect Passwords with a Master Password

By default, FileZilla saves passwords that you enter in the Site Manager.
It’s recommended to use a master password to store the passwords encrypted. Storing passwords
without a master password is insecure and can be read by anyone.

Warning: Ensure that you keep your master password in a safe place. If you lose or forget the
master password, you’ll be unable to access any saved passwords for sites in the Site Manager.

If you want FileZilla to protect the password file with a master password:

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1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › Passwords from the menu on the left.
3. Select the Save passwords protected by a master password option.
4. Enter the master password that you want to use in the Master password and Repeat password
fields.
5. Click on OK.

If later you disable the master password the stored passwords are decrypted, otherwise they are lost.

7.6 Stop FileZilla from Storing Passwords

By default, FileZilla saves passwords that you enter in the Site Manager.
If you want FileZilla to forget any passwords that you enter:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › Passwords from the menu on the left.
3. Select the Do not save passwords option.
4. Click on OK.

7.7 Recover Lost Passwords

If you choose to protect the passwords with a master password you won’t be able to recover them in
clear text, as they are encrypted. Ensure to keep your master password in a safe place. However you
can disable the master password if you lose it. In this case the stored passwords are also lost. You
may need to contact the system administrator or server provider for a new password for your site.
If you choose Save passwords without a master password you can recover them:

1. In the main menu, click on File › Export….

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2. In the Export settings window choose Export Site Manager entries and click on OK.

3. Save the file in a safe place as anyone with access to the file is able to decode the password.

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4. Open the file:

5. Look for the Pass entry. The contents of the entry are encoded with Base64 encoding scheme.
You have to decode using a tool or service of your preference. Select and copy the password
and paste in the web site entry box and choose Decode. The decoded password is shown in the
output box.

7.8 Modify New Connection Behavior

By default, FileZilla asks you what to do when you create a new remote server connection if it already
has an active connection. You can modify this behavior, though. The options are:

• Always ask what to do (default)

• Open a new tab for the new connection and don’t terminate the previous connection

• Terminate the existing connection and create the new connection

To modify FileZilla’s behavior when you open a new connection:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface from the menu on the left.

3. Select an option from the When starting a new connection while already connected drop
down list.

4. Click on OK.

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7.9 Bypass the Proxy Server

If you need to bypass the default proxy server for a connection:

1. Open the Site Manager.

2. Select the connection to modify.

3. Click on the Advanced tab.

4. Tick Bypass proxy.

5. Click on OK.

7.10 Configure Default Directories for a Connection

To configure default directories to be displayed when FileZilla connects to a specific remote site:

1. Open the Site Manager.

2. Select the connection to modify.

3. Click on the Advanced tab.

4. Enter the path to the local default directory, or click on Browse… to navigate to the desired
directory.

5. Enter the path to the remote default directory.

6. Click on OK.

7.11 Automatically Use Synchronized Browsing for a Connec-

tion

To configure FileZilla to use synchronized browsing when it connects to a specific Remote server:

1. Open the Site Manager.

2. Select the connection to modify.

3. Click on the Advanced tab.

4. Enter the path to the local directory that FileZilla should start synchronized browsing in, or
click on Browse… to navigate to the desired directory.

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5. Enter the path to the remote directory that FileZilla should start synchronized browsing in.

6. Tick the Use synchronized browsing checkbox.

7. Click on OK.

7.12 Automatically Use Directory Comparison for a Connec-

tion

To configure FileZilla to use directory comparison when it connects to a specific Remote server:

1. Open the Site Manager.

2. Select the connection to modify.

3. Click on the Advanced tab.

4. Tick the Directory comparison checkbox.

5. Click on OK.

7.13 Set Text Editor

By default, FileZilla collects file type associations, so it knows which applications you want to use
with various file types.
If you want FileZilla to always use a single text editor, you can use one of the following methods.

7.13.1 Use the default system editor

Your operating system will typically have a default text editor configured. FileZilla can check this
setting and use the assigned program to edit text files:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select File editing from the menu on the left.

3. Select Use system’s default editor for text files from the Default editor option group.

4. Click on OK.

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7.13.2 Configure path to a text editor

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select File editing from the menu on the left.

3. Select Use custom editor from the Default editor option group.

4. Enter the path and filename, or click on the Browse… button to browse to the executable file
that FileZilla should use to edit text files and click on Open.

5. Click on OK.

7.13.3 Set filetype association

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select File editing › Filetype associations from the menu on the left.

3. On a new line enter: the file extension, the properly quoted path to the executable file, and any
arguments required. The command and each argument are separated by spaces. A command
or argument containing whitespaces or double quotes need to be enclosed in double quotes.
Double quotes inside a command or argument need to be doubled up. In arguments %f is a
placeholder for the file to be opened. Use %% for literal percent.
For example, to open a .php file in Notepad, enter:
php "C:\Windows\notepad.exe"

4. Select File editing from the menu on the left.

5. Ensure that Use filetype associations if available is selected.

6. Click on OK.

When no custom association exists yet for a given type and no default editor has been configured, the
first time the user edits a file of that type FileZilla asks which editor to use. The system association

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option is available only if a system default editor exists:

7.14 Modify Date and Time Formats

By default, FileZilla looks at your system settings and uses the date and time formats that are stan-
dard for the language you use.
If you want to change how FileZilla displays dates and times:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › Date/time format from the menu on the left.

3. To have FileZilla display dates in the international standard format (YYYY-mm-dd), select ISO
8601 from the Date formatting option group.
To use a custom date format, select Custom from the Date formatting option group and enter
the coding for the format that you want.
The basic options are:
• %y The year as a decimal number without a century (range 00 to 99).
• %Y The year as a decimal number including the century.
• %m The month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12).
• %B The full month name according to the current locale.
• %b The abbreviated month name according to the current locale.
• %d The day of the month as a decimal number (range 01 to 31).
• %e Like %d, the day of the month as a decimal number, but a leading zero is replaced by a
space.
• %x The preferred date representation for the current locale without the time.

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4. To have FileZilla display times in the international standard format (24-hour time; HH:MM),
select ISO 8601 from the Time formatting option group.
To use a custom date format, select Custom from the Time formatting option group and enter
the coding for the format that you want.
The basic options are:
• %H The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 00 to 23).
• %I The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 01 to 12).
• %k The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 0 to 23); single digits are
preceded by a blank.
• %l The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 1 to 12); single digits are
preceded by a blank.
• %M The minute as a decimal number (range 00 to 59).
• %p Either ‘AM’ or ‘PM’ according to the given time value, or the corresponding strings for
the current locale. Noon is treated as ‘pm’ and midnight as ‘am’.
• %P Like %p but in lowercase: ‘am’ or ‘pm’ or a corresponding string for the current locale.
(GNU)
• %Z The time zone or name or abbreviation.

5. Click on OK.

A full list of date and time code options is available on the FileZilla wiki: https://wiki.filezilla-project.
org/Date_and_Time_formatting

7.15 Modify File Size Display

There are three common file size definitions used in the IT world, and which one you use will vary
your understanding of file size reporting:

• Original binary-factor definition of SI (International System of Units) units: 1024B = 1KB;

1024KB = 1MB; 1024MB = 1GB

• New digital-factor definition of SI (International System of Units) units: 1000B = 1KB; 1000KB
= 1MB; 1000MB = 1GB

• New binary-factor units: 1024B = 1KiB; 1024KiB = 1MiB; 1024 MiB = 1GiB.

By default, FileZilla displays file sizes in bytes.

If you’d like to have file sizes displayed differently:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › Filesize format from the menu on the left.

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3. Select an option from the Size formatting option group.

4. To have FileZilla use a thousands separator standard to your local settings, tick the Use thou-
sands separator checkbox.

5. If you choose to have file size displayed in anything other than bytes, select the number of dec-
imal places FileZilla should use.

6. Click on OK.

7.16 Modify File Sorting Method

By default, when FileZilla is sorting files in standard alphabetical order, it is case-insensitive and
places directories at the top.
If you want to change where FileZilla lists directories, or how it sorts names into alphabetical order:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › File lists from the menu on the left.

3. To change the way FileZilla displays directories in its alphabetical listings, select an option from
the Sorting mode drop down list.
• Prioritize directories lists directories first in standard alphabetical order.
• Keep directories on top lists directories first no matter which sorting method is used.
• Sort directories inline lists directories mixed in with files, so that all entries are in strict
alphabetical order.

4. To change the way FileZilla uses alphabetical sorting, select an option from the Name sorting
mode drop down list.
• Case insensitive recognizes no difference between upper and lower case letters. For ex-
ample:
– amplitude-test.doc
– ANTI.xls
– sample100.txt
– Sample11.txt
– sample12.txt
• Case sensitive lists upper case before lower case letters. For example:
– ANTI.xls
– amplitude-test.doc
– Sample11.txt
– sample100.txt
– sample12.txt

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• Natural sort is case-sensitive and recognizes and sorts whole numbers, as opposed to only
sorting digits. For example:
– ANTI.xls
– amplitude-test.doc
– Sample11.txt
– sample12.txt
– sample100.txt

5. Click on OK.

7.17 Active vs Passive Mode

While the differences between these two modes can get complex, here’s a basic explanation:
FTP and FTPS connections use two different channels to a server at once. One is used for commands
and responses, the other for the actual data being transferred.
It’s a little like ordering a pizza: You make a phone call or put in an order via a website, but the actual
pizza arrives by car or scooter.
The second channel – the data channel – is opened differently in active and passive modes. In active
mode, the remote server opens the data channel. In passive mode, the local machine opens the data
channel using the IP address and port number with which the remote server replies to a successful
connection request. Sort of like the difference between having a pizza delivered (active mode) and
going to pick it up yourself (passive mode).
The reason these differences are important is that some firewalls and routers won’t allow a remote
server to initiate a connection to a computer on the local network. If the remote server can’t open
the data channel, the active mode FTP connection can’t transfer any data.
By default, FileZilla uses passive mode for FTP and FTPS connections.
To see or change which mode FileZilla uses:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Connection › FTP from the list on the left side.

3. Check the Transfer mode and modify if needed.

4. Click on OK.

Related topics:
FTP Active Mode Configuration

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7.18 FTP Active Mode Configuration

You can restrict the local ports that remote FTP servers can use to initiate data channels. These will
need to correspond to ports that the router is configured to allow access from outside the local net-
work.

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Connection › FTP › Active mode from the menu on the left.

3. Tick the Limit local ports used by FileZilla checkbox.

4. Enter the bottom and top port in the range that you want FileZilla to use.

5. Click on OK.

Before a remote server can send a request to open a data channel, it needs to know the external IP
address of your computer. This is different to the IP address that it has on your local network, and it
tends to change regularly unless your router is configured to assign a static address instead.
The easiest way to configure this is to allow FileZilla to check with the operating system to find out
the current external IP address (default). If that doesn’t work, though, there are two other options:

• Configure FileZilla to use a static IP address: only use this if your router and ISP support static
IP addresses, and one is assigned to your computer.

• Configure FileZilla to check a third-party website to find your computer’s external IP address.

To configure FileZilla to use a static IP address:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Connection › FTP › Active mode from the menu on the left.

3. Select the Use the following IP address: radio button.

4. Enter the IP address.

5. Click on OK.

To configure FileZilla to consult a third-party website to find the local computer’s IP address:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Connection › FTP › Active mode from the menu on the left.

3. Select the Get external IP address from the following URL: radio button.

4. Use the default website, or enter the URL of your preferred IP address-checking website.

5. Click on OK.

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By default, FileZilla doesn’t use the external IP address for connections to servers on the local net-
work. If you need FileZilla to use the external IP address instead of the internal (local network) ad-
dress:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Connection › FTP › Active mode from the menu on the left.

3. Untick the Do not use external IP address on local connections checkbox.

4. Click on OK.

Related topics:
Active vs Passive Mode

7.19 Using an FTP Proxy

Depending on your router or network configuration, you might need to use a proxy in order to make
unencrypted FTP connections from FileZilla.
To configure FileZilla to use an FTP proxy:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Connection › FTP › FTP Proxy from the menu on the left.

3. Select the type of FTP proxy available.

4. Enter the proxy address and login details.

5. Click on OK.

7.20 Using a Proxy Server

Note: These instructions refer to using a generic proxy server. If you need to use a specific FTP proxy
server, see Using an FTP Proxy.

FileZilla can connect through the following types of proxy servers:

• HTTP/1 using CONNECT

• SOCKS 4

• SOCKS 5

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To configure FileZilla to use a proxy server:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Connection › Generic Proxy from the menu on the left.

3. Select the type of proxy server.

4. Enter the proxy address and, if needed, the port number.

If the port number is not entered, standard proxy ports will be tried.

5. Enter a user ID and password for the proxy server.

6. Click on OK.

7.21 Pre-allocate Disk Space Before Download

If you’re downloading large files and experiencing issues with file fragmentation, you can turn on
pre-allocation. FileZilla will find contiguous disk space for each file and create a placeholder file to
keep it available.
To enable pre-allocation:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Transfers from the menu on the left.

3. Tick the Preallocate space before downloading checkbox.

4. Click on OK.

7.22 Configure File Type Classifications for FTP and FTPS

FTP (and FTPS) data type of transferred files can be ASCII or binary.
ASCII type is used to transfer text files. The line-ending format of text files vary on different plat-
forms. A conversion between the client system’s format and the server system’s format may be nec-
essary. With the ASCII type the text file is correctly converted.
With the binary type the files are transferred without conversion. This type is suitable to transfer
images or data files.
The auto option enables automatic detection of the most appropriate transfer type for a file. That is,
it will use the ASCII type for text files and binary type for every other type of file.
FileZilla can transfer files as ASCII or binary files. By default, it transfers files without extensions and
dotfiles (for example, .htaccess`) as ASCII files. If you transfer a lot of extensionless files, you might
prefer to have these transferred as binary files instead.

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Warning: Modifying these settings incorrectly can lead to file corruption during transfers.

For most users, the default settings will work well; but if you need to modify the classifications that
FileZilla uses:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Transfers › FTP: File Types from the menu on the left.

3. Select a default transfer type.

4. To add a file extension to the list of file types treated as ASCII files, enter the extension and
click on Add.
To remove a file extension from the list of file types treated as ASCII files, select the file type
from the list and click on Remove.

5. Check the option Treat files without extension as ASCII files and files without extension will
be managed as text files.

6. Check option Treat dotfiles as ASCII files and files starting with a dot will be managed as text
files.

7. Click on OK.

The transfer type can be also selected while the connection is active:

1. Choose Transfer › Transfer type.

2. In the menu select the transfer type.

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These options are also available from the transfer type icon in the status bar:

7.23 Change Filestamp Comparison Threshold

The comparison threshold allows for minor differences in files’ last-modified time when using direc-
tory comparison. In theory, files are marked as ‘equal’ if they have the exact same last-modified time.
However, there might be a number of reasons for timestamps to be slightly out of sync while the
contents of the files are exactly the same.
To modify FileZilla’s timestamp threshold in directory comparison mode:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Interface › File lists from the menu on the left.

3. Change the number in the Comparison threshold field.

4. Click on OK.

7.24 Configuring MIME Type Mapping

FileZilla maps a number of file extensions to MIME Types by default. If you need to modify these map-
pings:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Transfers › MIME Types from the menu on the left.

3. Modify existing mappings, for example to add extra file extensions, by clicking on the text to
be modified and entering your changes. Add new mappings by clicking on Add and entering a
MIME type and the file extensions to be associated with it. Remove mappings by highlighting
the entry and clicking on Remove.

4. Click on OK.

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7.25 Create Log Files

To configure FileZilla to save transfer messages to local log files:

1. In the main menu, click on Edit › Settings….

2. Select Logging from the menu on the left.
3. If you want timestamps included in log files, tick the Show timestamps in message log check-
box.
4. Tick the Log to file checkbox.
5. Enter the file path and name, or click on Browse… and browse to the correct path, then click
on Open.
6. Tick the Limit the size of logfile checkbox.
7. Enter a maximum size for each log file.
8. Click on OK.
9. Restart FileZilla.

To save an existing log to a file:

1. In FileZilla’s main screen, right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (macOS) on the message log.

2. Click on Copy to clipboard.

3. Paste into a text editor and save file.

7.26 Export the Transfer Queue

FileZilla can export the Transfer Queue – queued, failed, or successful transfers. This list is exported
in XML format, and can be imported in the future to restart or repeat the file transfer.
You might use this functionality to retry failed transfers another day, or to run periodic backups of a
static number of files and folders.
To export the Transfer Queue for a specific remote server:

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1. In the Transfer Queue, select the Queued files, Failed transfers, or Successful transfers tab.

2. Right-click on the server name.

3. Click on Export….

4. Browse to the desired file location.

5. Enter a file name (the default is FileZilla.xml) and click on Save.

To export the entire Transfer Queue:

1. In the main menu, select File › Export….

2. Tick the Export Queue checkbox.

3. Click on OK.

4. Browse to the desired file location.

5. Enter a file name (the default is FileZilla.xml) and click on Save.

7.27 Import a Transfer Queue

To import a Transfer Queue in XML format:

1. In the main menu, select File › Import….

2. Browse to the Transfer Queue file and click on Open.

3. Ensure that the Queue checkbox is ticked.

4. Click on OK.

7.28 Export Configuration Settings

To export settings in FileZilla:

1. From the main menu, select File › Export….

2. Tick the Export Settings checkbox.

3. Click on OK.

4. Browse to a directory to save the settings file, and enter a name for the file.

5. Click on Save.

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7.29 Import Configuration Settings

To import settings into FileZilla:

1. From the main menu, select File › Import….

2. Browse to the file you want to import.

3. Click on Open.

4. Tick the Settings checkbox.

5. Click on OK.

7.30 Export Site Manager Connections

To export Site Manager connection settings in FileZilla:

1. From the main menu, select File › Export….

2. Tick the Export Site Manager entries checkbox.

3. Click on OK.

4. Browse to a directory to save the connection settings file, and enter a name for the file.

5. Click on Save.

7.31 Import Site Manager Connections

To import Site Manager connection settings from a file created from FileZilla 3.x:

1. From the main menu, select File › Import….

2. Browse to the file you want to import.

3. Click on Open.

4. Tick the Site Manager entries checkbox.

5. Click on OK.

If you’re importing Site Manager connection details from FileZilla 2.x, the data won’t be completely
compatible with your new version of FileZilla. You’ll be able to import:

• host address

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• host port
• user ID
• password

FileZilla 2.x keeps connection information in a file named filezilla.xml. You can either use this for the
import to FileZilla, or – a more reliable method – export all connections from FileZilla 2.x first.

Warning: While exporting Site Manager connections from FileZilla 2.x, be careful to not copy
over filezilla.xml in the program’s installation directory.

To import Site Manager connection settings from a file created from FileZilla 2.x:

1. From the main menu, select File › Import….

2. Browse to the file you want to import.
3. Click on Open.
4. Tick the Site Manager entries checkbox.
5. Click on OK.
FileZilla will display a message telling you that you can only import limited data from the file.
6. Click on Yes.

7.32 Network Configuration

It is important to understand the basics of the FTP protocol in order to configure FileZilla, firewalls
and routers. Setting up the network components for FTP outside a local area network (LAN) might
be non trivial. Read below to learn more.
What distinguishes FTP from most other protocols is the use of secondary connections for file trans-
fers. When you connect to a FTP server, you are actually making two connections. First, the control
connection is established, over which FTP commands and their replies are transferred. Then, in order
to transfer a file or a directory listing, the client sends a particular command over the control connec-
tion to establish the data connection. The data connection can be established in two different ways,
using active mode or passive mode.
In passive mode, which is the recommended, FileZilla sends the PASV command to the server, and
the server responds with an address. FileZilla then issues a command to transfer a file or to get a
directory listing, and establishes a secondary connection to the address returned by the server.
In active mode, FileZilla opens a socket on the local machine and tells its address to the server using
the PORT command. Once FileZilla issues a command to transfer a file or listing, the server will con-
nect to the provided address. In both cases, the required file or listing gets transferred over the data
connection.

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Generally, establishing outgoing connections requires little or no configuration of the involved

routers/firewalls compared to allowing incoming connections. In passive mode, the connection is
outgoing on the client side and incoming on the server side. In active mode this is reversed. Note
that the only difference is how the connection gets established. Once established, the connection
can be used both for uploads or downloads.
A common network setup might look like this:

In passive mode, the involved routers and firewalls on the server side need to be configured to accept
and forward incoming connections. On the client side, however, only outgoing connections need to
be allowed (which will be the case most of the times).
Analogously, in active mode, the router and firewall on the client side need to be configured to accept
and forward incoming connections. Only outgoing connections have to be allowed on the server side.
Since in most cases one server provides a service for many users, it is much easier to use the passive
mode and configure the router and firewall only once than use the active mode and configure the
client’s router/firewall for each individual client. Therefore, passive mode is recommended in most
cases.
Most broadband users will have a NAT (Network Address Translation) router between their com-
puter and the internet. This may be a standalone router device (perhaps a wireless router), or be
built into a DSL or cable modem. In a NAT environment, all systems behind the NAT router form a
Local Area Network (LAN), and each system in the LAN has a local IP address (recognizable as four
small numbers separated by dots). The NAT router itself has a local IP address as well. In addition,
the NAT router also has an external IP address by which it is known to the Internet.
For example a system might look like this:

The internal IP addresses are only valid inside the LAN. Think about a server behind a NAT router.
Imagine what might happen if a client requests passive mode, but the server doesn’t know the ex-
ternal IP address of the NAT router. If the server sends its internal address to the client, two things
could happen:

• If the client is not behind a NAT, the client would abort since the address is invalid.

• If the client is behind a NAT, the address given by the server might be the same as a system in
the client’s own LAN.

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In both cases passive mode would be impossible.

So if a server is behind a NAT router, it needs to know the external IP address of the router in pas-
sive mode. In this case, the server sends the router’s external address to the client. The client then
establishes a connection to the NAT router, which in turn routes the connection to the server.
Some routers and firewalls analyze connections and, if they think they detect FTP, they silently
change the data exchanged between client and server. If the user has not explicitly enabled this fea-
ture, this behavior can cause various problems.
For an example, imagine a client behind a NAT router trying to connect to the server. Let’s further
assume that this client does not know it is behind a NAT and wants to use active mode. So it sends
the PORT command with the user’s local, un-routable IP address to the server:
PORT 10,0,0,1,12,34
This command tells the server to connect to the address 10.0.0.1 on port 12*256+34 = 3106
The NAT router sees this and silently changes the command to include the external IP address. At the
same time, the NAT router will also create a temporary port forwarding for the FTP session, possibly
on a different port even:
PORT 123,123,123,123,24,55
The above command tells the server to connect to the address 123.123.123.123 on port 24*256+55
= 6199
With this behavior, a NAT router allows an improperly configured client to use active mode.
So why is this behavior bad? Essentially, it can cause a number of problems if it is enabled by default,
without explicit user consent. The FTP connections in their most basic form appear to work, but as
soon as there’s some deviation from the basic case, everything will fail:

• The NAT router blindly assumes some connection uses FTP based on criteria like target ports
or the initial server response:
– The used protocol is detected as FTP, yet there is no guarantee that this is true (a false
positive). Though unlikely, it is conceivable that a future revision of the FTP protocol
might change the syntax of the PORT command. A NAT router modifying the PORT com-
mand would then silently change things it does not support and thus break the connec-
tion.
– The router’s protocol detection can fail to recognize an FTP connection (a false negative).
Say the router only looks at the target port, and if it is 21, it detects it as FTP. As such,
active mode connections with an improperly configured client to servers running on port
21 will work, but connections to other servers on non-standard ports will fail.
• Obviously, a NAT router can no longer tamper with the connection as soon as an encrypted
FTP session is used, again leaving the user clueless why it works for normal FTP but not for
encrypted FTP.
• Say a client behind a NAT router sends PORT 10,0,0,1,12,34. How does the NAT router know
the client is improperly configured? It is also possible that the client is properly configured, yet
merely wants to initiate an FXP (server-to-server) transfer between the server it is connected
to and another machine in the server’s own local network.

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Therefore, having protocol specific features enabled in a NAT router by default can create signif-
icant problems. The solution to all this, then, is to know your router’s settings, and to know the
configuration abilities of a router before you set it up. A good NAT router should always be fully
protocol-agnostic. The exception is if you as the user have explicitly enabled this feature, knowing all
its consequences.
While this section only discussed the combination of a NAT router on the client side with active mode,
the same applies to a server behind a NAT router and the reply to the PASV command.
It is recommended to use the network configuration wizard. It can be reached at the Edit menu. The
wizard will guide you through the necessary steps and can test your configuration.
If you want to connect to any server, you need to tell your firewall that FileZilla should be allowed to
open connections to other servers. Most normal FTP servers use port 21, SFTP servers use port 22
and FTPS (implicit mode) use port 990 by default.
These ports are not mandatory, however, so it’s best to allow outgoing connections to arbitrary re-
mote ports.
Since many servers on the internet don’t support both transfer modes, it’s recommended that you
configure both transfer modes on your end.
Passive mode
In passive mode, FileZilla has no control over what port the server chooses for the data connection.
Therefore, in order to use passive mode, you’ll have to allow outgoing connections to all ports in your
firewall.
Active mode
In active mode, FileZilla opens a socket and waits for the server to establish the transfer connection.
By default, FileZilla asks the operating system for the machine’s IP address and for the number of a
free port. This configuration can only work if you are connected to the internet directly without any
NAT router, and if you have set your firewall to allow incoming connections on all ports greater than
1024.
If you have a NAT router, you need to tell FileZilla your external IP address in order for active mode
connections to work with servers outside your local network:

• If you have a fixed external IP address, you can enter it in Edit › Settings, FTP, Active Mode,
Use the following IP address box.

• If you have a dynamic IP address, you can authorize FileZilla to obtain your external IP address
from a special website. This will occur automatically each time FileZilla is started. No informa-
tion will be submitted to the website (regardless of FileZilla version).

If in doubt, use the second option.

If you do not want to allow incoming connections on all ports, or if you have a NAT router, you need
to tell FileZilla to use a specific range of ports for active mode connections.
Configure the range in Edit › Settings, FTP, Active Mode, enable Limit local ports used by FileZilla
and fill the boxes with the minimum and maximum port numbers. You will have to open these ports

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in your firewall. If you have a NAT router, you need to forward these ports to the local machine on
which the FileZilla is installed on. Depending on your router model, you can either forward a range
of ports or you need to forward all ports individually.
Valid ports can be from 1 to 65535; however, ports less than 1024 are reserved for other protocols.
It is best to choose ports greater than or equal to 50000 for active mode FTP.
Due to the nature of TCP (the underlying transport protocol), a port cannot be reused immediately
after each connection. Therefore, the range of ports should not be too small to prevent the failure of
transfers of multiple small files. A range of 50 ports should be sufficient in most cases.

7.33 fzdefaults.xml

The file fzdefaults.xml is used to provide system-wide default settings for FileZilla.
fzdefaults.xml can contain any setting from filezilla.xml. FileZilla loads the settings from fzde-
faults.xml and overrides the settings from filezilla.xml. fzdefaults.xml is not modified by FileZilla.

Note: fzdefaults.xml cannot be used with the macOS AppStore version.

• Windows: put the file fzdefaults.xml into the same directory as filezilla.exe.

• macOS: modify the app bundle, put fzdefaults.xml into Contents/SharedSupport/ subdirec-
tory

• Other: put the file fzdefaults.xml into one of the following directories (in order of precedence):
– $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/filezilla
– ~/.config/filezilla
– ~/.filezilla
– /etc/filezilla
– shared/filezilla subdirectory of install prefix

Create some new Site Manager entries and export the list of sites. See Export Configuration Settings
on how to export them. Rename the resulting XML file to fzdefaults.xml or copy the <Server> block
in it into fzdefaults.xml.
Config Location
By default, FileZilla stores its settings in the user’s home directory. If you want to change the location,
modify the Config Location setting.
Config Location either accepts absolute paths or paths relative to the location of fzdefaults.xml.
You can also use environment variables by preceding them with the dollar sign, e.g. $HOME/foo. Use
$$ to denote a path containing dollar signs, e.g. c:\$$foobar\ if settings should be located in c:\
$foobar.

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A single dot denotes the directory containing fzdefaults.xml.

Kiosk Mode
If the Kiosk mode setting is set to 1, FileZilla will not write any passwords to disk. If set to 2, FileZilla
will not write to any configuration file. The latter is useful if FileZilla gets executed from read-only
media. This option has priority over the password saving options in Settings.
Disable update check
If the Disable update check setting is set to 1, the capability to check for new FileZilla versions will be
completely disabled.
Cache directory
Use the Cache directory setting to override where FileZilla places its resource cache. Same rule ap-
plies for environment variables and relative paths as for the Config Location setting.
A sample fzdefaults.xml file can be found under docs subdirectory in the FileZilla installation direc-
tory:

<FileZilla3>
<Settings>
<Setting name="Config Location">$SOMEDIR/filezilla/</Setting>
<Setting name="Kiosk mode">0</Setting>
<Setting name="Disable update check">0</Setting>
<Setting name="Cache directory">$USERPROFILE/Documents</Setting>
</Settings>
<Servers>
<Server>
<Host>ftp.gnu.org</Host>
<Port>21</Port>
<Protocol>0</Protocol>
<Type>0</Type>
<Logontype>0</Logontype>
<User>anonymous</User>
<Pass>[email protected]</Pass>
<TimezoneOffset>0</TimezoneOffset>
<PasvMode>MODE_DEFAULT</PasvMode>
<MaximumMultipleConnections>0</MaximumMultipleConnections>
<EncodingType>Auto</EncodingType>
<Comments></Comments>
<LocalDir></LocalDir>
<RemoteDir></RemoteDir>Primary GNU download server
</Server>
</Servers>
</FileZilla3>

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7.34 Preserve Timestamps

By the default last modified time of downloaded or uploaded files is set to the date and time of when
they were downloaded or uploaded. Learn how to preserve the original file timestamp.

1. Choose Transfer › Preserve timestamps of transferred files

2. A warning is shown. For FTP, FTPS and SFTP protocols the timestamp for uploads requires
that the server supports the MFMT FTP command:

3. Upload or download your files.

There are no special requirements for preserving timestamps over SFTP.

7.34. Preserve Timestamps 125

 Copyright and Trademark Information
8
Lead Author: Naomi Kramer
Co-Authors: Tim Kosse, Roberto Galoppini, Josué Andrade Gomes
Copyright © 2019-2022 by Tim Kosse and Business Follows srl
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without
either the prior written permission of the copyrights’ holders. Requests for permission should be
addressed to [email protected] and [email protected].
TRADEMARKS: FileZilla logo and FileZilla are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tim Kosse, in
Europe and in the United States, and may not be used without written permission. All other trade-
marks are the property of their respective owners.
Build info
Dec 12, 2022 15:34

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