Since 2011, Chris has personally written over 2,000 articles that have been read more than one billion times-and that's just here at How-To Geek. He oversees all How-To Geek's content to ensure it's as accurate and in-depth as possible. Plain old FTP is pretty insecure, so you should treat FTP servers you find with some caution.Ĭhris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. FTP servers are less prevelant than they used to be, but you can host your own.

FTP servers used to be quite common, and many companies hosted them to allow people to download files from the Internet.

What is an FTP Server?Ī File Transfer Protocol Server - usually just called an FTP Server - is a server running special software designed specifically to send and receive files. Windows itself offers several ways for connecting to an FTP server, allowing you to download and upload files in a pinch. If you need to access an FTP server, you can install dedicated FTP clients with lots of features - but you don't necessarily have to. Use commands like 'dir' to view directories and 'get' or 'put' to download or upload files. You can also access FTP servers using the ftp command in Command Prompt or PowerShell, using the 'open' command followed by the server address and entering the username and password.In Windows 11 File Explorer, right-click on 'This PC' and choose 'Add a Network Location,' then follow the steps to add an FTP server.Windows File Explorer allows you to connect to FTP servers by adding a network location and entering the server address, username, and password.

Google ftp server free