How to Connect with FileZilla Client FTP and SFTP on Windows

FileZilla Client is the free desktop program that copies files to and from an FTP, FTPS, or SFTP server. It is not FileZilla Server, and it is not FileZilla Pro. This guide installs the Windows client, explains the three protocols, and saves one site in Site Manager with logon type Normal. The catalog page is FileZilla. Softcoria does not host the installer.

The client version cited here is 3.71.1, dated 26 August 2026, on the project’s client versions page. Check that page if a newer client build is listed when you download. The license is GPL-3.0-or-later.

Client, not Server and not Pro

The FileZilla project publishes more than one program. Mixing them up is how people install a server they did not mean to run, or pay for a protocol they do not need.

FileZilla ClientFree desktop program. Speaks FTP, FTPS, and SFTP. License GPL-3.0-or-later.Yes FileZilla ProA paid client edition. Adds cloud protocols on top of the free client.No FileZilla ServerA different product that hosts files for other people. The project distributes it under the AGPL.No

If you were given a host name, a user name, and a password, you want the client. The server product is for the person who runs the machine that stores the files. The project’s home page is where those separate downloads are described. Pro is the edition that adds cloud protocols. This article does not name those cloud protocols and does not walk through a Pro license.

FTP, FTPS, and SFTP

The three names are easy to blur because they all move files. They are not the same connection.

FTPPlain file transfer. The sign-in and the files are not encrypted by FTP itself.21 FTPSFTP over TLS. It is still FTP, with TLS protecting the session. It is not SSH.The port the operator published. Explicit TLS is often still 21. SFTPFile transfer over SSH. It is not FTP with a padlock added. It is a different protocol.22

Use the protocol your host told you to use. A server that expects SFTP will not speak FTP just because you typed the same host name. In Site Manager the Protocol field is what selects FTP or SFTP. For FTPS you choose FTP and then require FTP over TLS, rather than leaving the session as plain FTP. If the operator did not mention TLS or SSH, ask before you send a password. Plain FTP shows that password to anything on the path that cares to look.

Install the 64-bit client

Download the 64-bit Windows build only from filezilla-project.org for win64. Do not take a setup file from a catalog, a mirror you do not recognize, or a page that bundles the name FileZilla with an unrelated installer. Softcoria’s page describes the client. It does not store the setup file.

The project does not publish a CPU speed or a RAM minimum for FileZilla Client. There is no honest number to put in that blank, so this guide leaves it blank. You need a normal Windows PC that can run the installer and reach the server over the network. Read How to Safely Download and Install Software on Windows before you run the file: confirm the download host, then run the setup you actually fetched from the project.

Accept the client install. You are not installing FileZilla Server in this guide. If a wizard step offers another product you did not come to install, decline it. When setup finishes, open FileZilla Client from the Start menu. The window is a local file list on one side and a remote file list on the other. Both stay empty of a server until you connect.

A one-off with Quickconnect

The Quickconnect bar at the top is enough for a single session you will not save. Fill in the host, the user, the password, and the port: 21 for FTP or 22 for SFTP. Connect, do the transfer, and close. Quickconnect does not replace a saved site when you need the protocol recorded. For SFTP in particular, Site Manager is the reliable place to set the protocol to SFTP instead of leaving the session as plain FTP. Use the bar when the host, user, password, and port are already in front of you and you will not return tomorrow.

Save a site in Site Manager

A site you will open again belongs in Site Manager. The fields below are the ones that decide whether the connection is FTP, FTPS, or SFTP.

1. Choose File > Site Manager.
2. Create a new site and give it a name you will recognize, such as the server’s purpose. The name is only a label on this PC.
3. Set Protocol to FTP or to SFTP. SFTP means SSH file transfer. It is not a checkbox on top of FTP.
4. Enter the Host. Use the name or address the operator gave you, not a guess.
5. Set the Port to 21 for FTP or 22 for SFTP. If the operator published a different port, use that number instead of the usual one.
6. For FTPS, keep the protocol on FTP and require explicit FTP over TLS. Do not select SFTP to “add encryption” to an FTP host. That selects a different protocol.
7. Set Logon type to Normal.
8. Enter the User. Enter the Password only if you have decided to store it. Saving the password is optional.
9. Leave the transfer type on Auto unless the operator told you to force Binary or ASCII. Auto lets the client treat text and binary files appropriately. Force a type only when you were told the server requires it.
10. Connect. A remote folder list means the control connection worked. You can then copy a file.

The example shape, not a live server, is a host like files.example.com, protocol SFTP, port 22, logon type Normal, and a user the operator created. example.com will not accept your login. It only shows which box receives which fact.

Storing the password is a choice

Logon type Normal is the sign-in this guide uses: a user name and a password. If you fill the password box and save the site, FileZilla Client keeps that secret with the site entry. That is convenient on a PC only you use, in a Windows account only you can open. It is a bad idea on a shared family PC, a lab machine, or any Windows login other people know. Leave the password out in those cases and type it when you connect, or do not save the site at all and use Quickconnect for that one session. The project does not require you to store the password. The PC must be one you trust before you do.

Move a file after you are connected

When the remote pane shows folders, you are looking at the server, not at a second copy of your disk. Open the local folder on the left, or whichever side your layout uses for the PC. Open the remote folder you were told to use. Double-click a file or drag it from the local side to the remote side to upload. Drag the other way to download. Watch the transfer queue at the bottom until the file shows a successful state. A file that is still queued is not on the server yet.

Keep the transfer type on Auto for ordinary documents, installers, and images. ASCII exists for plain text when a server requires it. Binary exists when you must stop the client from altering a file. If you were not given that instruction, Auto is the setting to leave alone. After the queue finishes, refresh the remote folder if the new name does not appear, then download the file once to a temporary folder and confirm the size matches. That check matters more for a plain FTP session, where the path is not encrypted, but it is still the way you know the copy arrived.

Connection refused, the wrong port, passive mode, and the host key

Most failed first connections are a protocol, a port, or a trust prompt. Read the message before you change five settings at once.

Connection refused

Connection refused means the PC reached an address, or tried to, and nothing accepted that TCP connection. Confirm the host spelling. Confirm the port: 21 for FTP, 22 for SFTP, or the exact port in the instructions you were given. Confirm that you are on a network that is allowed to reach that host. A server that is stopped, a firewall that rejects the port, and a typo in the host name can all end in a refusal. Fix the host and the port before you reinstall FileZilla. Reinstalling the client does not open a port on someone else’s server.

The wrong port

SFTP on port 21, or FTP on port 22, points the client at a listener that is not speaking the protocol you selected. The failure may say connection refused, or it may fail while negotiating. Match them as a pair. FTP and port 21. SFTP and port 22. FTPS stays with FTP and TLS, on the port the operator named. Changing only the port, or only the protocol, is the usual mistake.

Passive mode, in general

FTP uses a control connection for commands and a separate data connection for the file list and the files. If you sign in and the remote pane never fills, the control connection may have worked while the data connection did not. On a typical home network, passive mode is what operators expect, because the client opens the data connection outward. Active mode asks the server to connect back to you, which home routers often block. This guide does not click through every transfer checkbox. If the host told you to use passive FTP, use passive rather than active. If the directory lists and the files move, leave the mode where it is.

The first SFTP host key

The first time you connect with SFTP, FileZilla Client shows the server’s host key and asks whether to trust it. That window is the check that you have reached the SSH server you meant. If the administrator gave you a fingerprint, compare every character. Accept the key only when it matches. If it does not match, cancel and ask the administrator. Do not accept a mismatched key to get past the dialog. If nobody gave you a fingerprint, accepting the key means you chose to trust whatever answered on that host and port. You can still decide to continue on a server you were explicitly told to use, but you should know you did not verify it. On later connections the client remembers the key it stored. A sudden change in that key is a reason to stop and ask, not a reason to click through on habit.

After a successful test, disconnect if you are done. A saved site with no stored password still remembers the host, the port, the protocol, and the user, which is the part worth keeping. The password can stay in your head, or in a password manager, instead of in the site entry.

FAQ

Is this FileZilla Server or FileZilla Pro?

Neither. This guide is FileZilla Client, the free program that connects to a server you already have. FileZilla Server is a different product under the AGPL. FileZilla Pro is the edition that adds cloud protocols. Do not follow a Server or Pro setup when you only need to upload files.

Which port should I use?

Use port 21 for plain FTP. Use port 22 for SFTP. FTPS is FTP over TLS, so the port is the one your server operator published, often still 21 for explicit TLS. Do not point SFTP at 21 or FTP at 22 and expect a file list.

Should I save the password in Site Manager?

Only on a Windows PC you trust. Logon type Normal can store the user and password with the site. That step is optional. Anyone who can open FileZilla on that Windows account can then connect. If the PC is shared, do not store the password.

What does connection refused mean?

Nothing accepted the connection. Check the host name, confirm you used port 21 for FTP or port 22 for SFTP, and confirm the service is running. A firewall or a stopped server produces the same refusal. A wrong port often fails this way or as a protocol mismatch.

A host key window appeared on the first SFTP connection. Do I accept it?

Only after you check it. The first SFTP connection shows the server host key. If your administrator gave you a fingerprint, compare it. Accept the key when it matches. Do not click through because you want the file list. If you have no fingerprint, you have not verified the server yet.

What CPU and RAM does FileZilla Client require?

The project does not publish a CPU or RAM minimum for the client. This guide does not invent one. Download the 64-bit Windows build only from filezilla-project.org and install it on the PC you will use for the transfer.

Related guides

• How to Safely Download and Install Software on Windows — confirm the project site, then run the client setup.

Related software

• FileZilla — the Softcoria page for the client. The installer is not hosted here.
• Internet software for Windows — other listings. They are not a substitute for the protocol and port your host gave you.