Learn how to open an FTP server from Windows Explorer and effortlessly manage your files. Follow our step-by-step guide for easy access and file transfers!
Next, we are going to see how to open an FTP server from Windows Explorer easily with this simple tutorial which we are going to explain step by step everything you need to know to get connected to your server without using any kind of program.
When we hire a hosting, for example. Our provider sends us the username and password so that we can access it. Generally we will download a client like FileZilla to connect, although it is not totally necessary to have a client of these.
Windows has a very interesting option so that we can connect via FTP to our server. It is as simple as opening a browser window, typing in the server address and voila.
We are going to see in the tutorial that you will be able to appreciate a little below all the steps that you must follow to be able to connect to an FTP server from Windows Explorer in a fairly simple way.
How to open an FTP server from Windows Explorer.
To open an FTP server from Windows Explorer, you can follow these steps in a tabular format for clarity:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open Windows Explorer. |
| 2 | In the address bar, type ftp://[FTP_SERVER_IP] or ftp://[FTP_SERVER_HOSTNAME]. Replace [FTP_SERVER_IP] or [FTP_SERVER_HOSTNAME] with the IP address or hostname of your FTP server. |
| 3 | Press Enter. |
| 4 | If prompted, enter your FTP username and password. |
| 5 | Once logged in, you can view and manage files on the FTP server. |
Remember, the specific steps might vary slightly depending on your version of Windows and the configuration of your FTP server.
Generally, when we are going to connect to an FTP server, the most normal thing is that we do it from a client like FileZilla from which managing downloads and uploads is extremely simple.
However, for those people who don’t want to download anything, they can connect to any FTP server from Windows itself, using the OS file explorer.
- For this, all we have to do is open Windows Explorer. To do this you will have to press the “Windows + E” keys .
- What we will do now is go to the address bar where we will have to write the full address of the same starting with ftp://ftp.example.com.
- After pressing enter you will be asked for the username and password, the same ones that the hosting provider provided you. If you do not have it, you will have to talk to them to get them.
- Once you enter the access data, you will be able to access your FTP server.
How to connect to an FTP server from Windows Explorer
What we must bear in mind is that the Windows FTP functions are actually a bit limited if we are going to compare it with clients like FileZilla . However, it is very useful to get out of trouble in case for some reason you cannot use an FTP client.
Another thing you can do is create a direct access to the FTP server in case you want to quickly access it without having to perform all the steps that we mentioned a little above . It is something very simple and for this you will have to follow these steps:
- The first thing is to go to the desktop of our computer.
- Next, we are going to right-click on an empty space and we can see that a menu appears with several options.
- Among all these options we are going to look for the one that says “New” and then we go to “Direct access”.
- Where it says ” Enter the location of the element” we will have to add the address in this way: ftp: //user.password [email protected] where we can “user” should go the username and where it says “password” you will have to add your FTP password.
- By pressing next you will have to add a name to this shortcut.
- When you press Finish, you will already have the direct access to it. You can change its icon by right clicking on it and then clicking Properties.
As you can see, it is quite easy to learn in a few steps how to open an FTP server from Windows Explorer. In a few steps you will have access to your server where you can upload and download all the files you want.
