Upload your files: FTP, SFTP and the file manager

What you get: your files within the site, by the method that is most convenient for you: from the browser without installing anything, or with FileZilla from your computer.

Before starting

There are three ways to upload files, and they are not the same thing. Choosing the wrong one is the number one cause of “I can’t upload anything” tickets.

via	Where it is created	When to use it
File manager	Sites → File manager	A few individual files, without installing anything.
FTP account	Sites → FTP → New FTP account	Large uploads with FileZilla. Port 21.
SSH user	Sites → SSH → New SSH user	SFTP and command line. Port 22.

The typical confusion: an FTP account is not suitable for SFTP. The panel itself says so on the FTP screen: “This account is only for FTP: for SSH and SFTP you need an SSH user, which is another separate account”. If your program asks for “SFTP”, you need the other one.

Upload from the browser

In the menu, Websites → File manager. Each site is a folder.
Enter the folder of your domain and upload, create folders, download or delete.

It is the fastest for a quick edit. For an entire WordPress, use FTP.

Create an FTP account

In the line of your site, press FTP.
New FTP account.
Fill in:
- Site — which of your sites does this account enter.
- User and Password - minimum 8 characters.
- Folder — which part of the site it enters. / is the root. If you give someone access only to a subfolder, put it here and they will not see the rest.
- Maximum space (MB) — -1 if you don’t want a limit.
Create FTP account.

The connection data is on the same screen, above: server, port 21 and FTP with explicit TLS. Always use TLS: without it the password travels in plain text over the internet.

The mode must be passive (ports 30000-30100). FileZilla does it alone; some old programs do not.

How to check it worked

The account appears in the list, active. Connect to FileZilla by entering ftp.tudominio.com, port 21, encryption “Requires explicit FTP over TLS”, and check that you see the site folder.

Upload a prueba.txt file and open it in https://tudominio.com/prueba.txt. If you see it, the upload has gone to the correct folder. Delete it later.

Common problems

My program says “SFTP” and does not connect to my FTP account: They are two different things. The FTP account enters through port 21 and does not accept SFTP. For SFTP, create an SSH user on the SSH screen of the site and connect to port 22 with that user.
It connects, but the folder is empty or I can’t see my website: You are at a level of more or less. The website is served from the site folder; if you see folders with names like web or log when you enter, your website is inside web. Upload there and look again.
It stays at “Recovering directory list” and does not end: It is almost always the active mode. Change your program to passive mode: in FileZilla, Edit → Options → Connection → FTP → Transfer mode → Passive.
I upload the file and the website remains the same: Two reasons, in this order: you have uploaded it to another folder, or you are viewing it with the browser’s cache. Open the file address directly and reload with the shift key pressed.
It gives me “530 Login incorrect” and the password is correct: The FTP user is not your email or the panel user: it is the one you wrote when creating the account. If you don’t remember it, edit the account and put a new password; the user will appear in the list.
I want to give my designer access to only one folder: Create a separate FTP account and put that subfolder in Folder. Do not share yours: when you finish the work, delete your account and that’s it.
A large upload always fails halfway through: If it fails over FTP it is the connection; try again with fewer uploads in parallel. If what fails is an upload from within the web (WordPress, for example), it is not the FTP: it is the PHP limits. Check it out in View and edit your PHP settings.