In this tutorial:
Connecting to your server is fast and easy when using FTP access. InMotion Hosting has the cPanel File Manager that you can use to upload files to your server; however, the File Manager requires you to upload one file at a time. With FTP, you can upload all your files to your server at once.
You DO NOT have to create an FTP account to connect to your server. If you use the cPanel username and password, you can connect directly to your servers “Home” directory. If you are not sure what the “Home” directory is, please see our article on What directory should I put my files in?.
Getting Started
Quick Start Guide to using FTP
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
| Hostname | domain.com |
| Username | cPanel Username (For example: userna99) |
| Password | cPanel Password |
| Port | 21 |
How to View your FTP Settings:
- Login to cPanel.
- Under Files click the FTP Accounts button.
- In the Special FTP Accounts section, you will see an icon of a little person
, click the Configure FTP Client link to the right, and you will see your settings displayed:
About FTP
What is FTP?
Connecting to FTP can be done in several ways. You can connect to your server using a program like FileZilla, WP_FTP, or CyberDuck, or you can use an HTML editor like DreamWeaver or Notepad++. No matter what way you are connecting to your server, you will need to use the correct credentials to connect. The following sections will explain how to connect to your server using FTP.
Different Available FTP Programs
FTP programs | HTML editors that use FTP |
Connecting to FTP with your cPanel user
To connect to your account via FTP using your cPanel user credentials, you need to use the username and password for your cPanel. you can get your username by Viewing Your Account’s technical information in AMP.
| Host name | The FTP host is what your program uses to find your server. You have several options for your FTP host, and all will work the same. An example of what your host name looks like are as follows:
Note! If your domain is not pointing to our server (See What is a name server? and Updating your domain’s dns / nameservers), you can use the Server host name or the server IP address to connect with FTP. otherwise you will get an error when trying to connect using FTP. |
| Username | Connecting with the cPanel user will use your cPanel username. This is the Username found in your AMP Technical Details. |
| Password | Your FTP password can also be your cPanel username’s password, unless you never reset your cPanel password. If you never reset your cPanel password, then the cPanel password should be the same as the AMP password. If not, you can reset your password. Please see our article Resetting your cPanel password using AMP. |
| Port | This is the port you connect to your server through. For standard FTP you will use port 21. SFTP will use port 22 for VPS and dedicated servers. Shared servers will connect to SFTP via port 2222. |
| Directory | The main directory for your domain will be public_html. If you are using the cPanel username, you will use “public_html” if your program requires a directory to be specified. |
FTP Accounts
Creating Additional FTP Accounts
Using FTP with your Addon domain
Your “Home” directory stores all your emails and other personal information on your server. You may want to restrict access to the specific folder location for a web developer to access your files without accessing your mail folder. You can set up an FTP account to do this. If you want to restrict access for a web developer to just a specific folder, you can create an FTP account to limit access.
Using a Created FTP account
Troubleshooting: Using Passive mode
While the above guide will work with most popular FTP programs, specialized FTP clients like WS_FTP may require additional configuration.
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use port 21
not 80
bcz 80 is for http
and 21 is for ftp
Hello there, I have a critical issue using Filezilla, I get the error message “FATAL ERROR: Network error: Software caused connection abort” when I try to connect to my domain qfm.com.mx
I am using it with another hosting service and I got no issues. So my ISP is working well.
Could you help me with that please?
Best regards,
Ing. Rocky Oropeza
Hi Soporte — I’m sorry you’re experiencing that issue. So we can best assist you, please reach out to our 24/7 live support. They will be able to take a closer look at your account and help you troubleshoot.
Hi,
I’d like to access a remote pc from outside my business network. When I’m at work I just use the FTP to my remote pc adress.
However when I’m at home in the terminal I must first
ssh to @server-cluster
ssh to @remote-pc
Is there a way to FTP through both of them ?
Cheers
If you only need to use FTP, the easiest method that I can suggest is to use FileZilla. While simple, the program is free and works pretty reliably!
My prior IT/domain person set up my ftp Commander 8 software with InMotion. (I’m NOT an IT person.) I want to be able to send files to others by sending a url by email to a client, and they click on the url and download a *.zip file I have created and uploaded.
I AM able to upload files to my InMotion server with my ftp program, but the url formula I used to use does not work now. My current formula is “https://domainname.com/projects/newfile.zip”
Obviously I did not use my domain name or an actual file name.
My question: what should I use for my InMotion account to successfully allow a client to download the file I’ve point to them?
Hello and thanks for contacting us. You’d need to ensure you upload files to the /projects folder within your domain root folder.
I created a brand new ftp account which exists as simply an empy folder with the path:
mydomain.com–>ftpuser
is there a way to place an alias inside that user’s folder that points to
mydomain–>public_html
?
You can create a symlink using the
ln -scommand, but that requires SSH access. There doesn’t appear to be a way to do that from within cPanel itself.My friend who updates part of my pagefillers.com website is currently abroad in the Philipines and will be there for some time yet. He says he’s not been able to FTP to the site since he went out East. Is there a proxy setting or something that he can use in order to maintain his pages while he’s abroad, or is he stuck till he finally returns to the Western world?
FTP should be available abroad, however, the access through that port may be blocked depending on the network that they are using. As an InMotion Hosting customer you can always contact our Technical Support team to assist you with FTP connectivity issues.
hello,
i viewed my ftp accounts. there are two ftp users that are from a previous malware protection company–that i no longer use. can / should i delete their ftp accounts so that they cannot connect to my account?
As long as you are no longer using those FTP accounts, it should be fine to delete. You can always recreate them if necessary.
Thank you,
John-Paul
Dear InmotionHosting team,
I can get FTP to work using my office’s network.
However, it doestn’t work with my home’s network. (Cannot connect)
Can you help me fix this problem?
It’s more convenient to use my home’s network as it’s a lot faster and I mostly stay at home.
Thank you!
Sompot
It may be best for you to contact our Live Support team. They may need to test the connection and check the FTP logs.
i have been uploading files from Dreamweaver by ftp to my site and all was fine until today. the Dreamweaver site test says connection is made, but files won’t upload. I am wondering if Norton or Windows 10 changed some security setting that blocks the upload. Any ideas?
It is possibly a setting in your local configuration. But if you’re not sure, you can contact our Live Support department. They can check the FTP logs to see if a connection is made.
I have configured 2 ftp accounts and have put in the correct details in filezilla manually and have also used the configuration file (double checked both) but am getting EAI_NONAME – Neither nodename nor servname provided, or not known. I have read the advice above but am unable to resolve this
It sounds like FileZilla is unable to resolve the address you are using to connect to your server. I would recommend connecting directly to the IP address of your server instead.
I can use FTP to connect to my site when I use internet from a certain internet provider.
But once I switch to other internet provider, FTP doesn’t work. Why is that? Thank you.
That is certainly strange. You may be best advised to contact your Internet provider if you have isolated the issue to their network. They may have some restrictions on what kind of traffic they allow.
I see the FTP upload is single file at a time. Is there a server setting for more parallel connections? I’ve got the FTP program set for it (lots of experience with ftp).
Thanks
Allen, the default number of FTP connections allowed with a cPanel server is 8 at any given time, but if you have a VPS or dedicated server you should be able to edit your FTP server’s configuration file to increase this if you wish.
I must be a old (71) idiot. I am trying to logon to FileZilla for my add-on domain that I just set up but it doesn’t work so I must be doing something wrong in entering log-on info. Is the host entry the same as the as when I enter to access main domain? Is the useername entry the add-on name or old username?
Hello Paul,
Sorry for the problems with the login! And you’re not the only one who’s had trouble with it, so no worries. If you’re trying to use FTP, simply use the cPanel login credentials to access the add-on site. FTP access is based on the primary domain assigned to the account. Addon domains are accessed from the same login.
I hope that helps to clarify the issue! Please let us know if you have any further questions!
Regards,
Arnel C.
How come all of the instructions are how to connect to FTP using unsecure methods? It would appear that InMotion Hosting is dedicated to doing what is easy, not what is secure.
You can also connect securely, though it is through a key. You can learn more about that on our article entitled Connecting to SFTP for Shared accounts. That and other such articles are also found using our support search engine located at the top of the page.
Im getting the followinf message from Filezilla. (I changed the domail for this example)
Status: Waiting to retry…
Status: Resolving address of ftp.xxxxxx.com
Status: Connecting to 192.145.239.42:21…
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message…
Response: 421 Too many connections (8) from this IP
Error: Could not connect to server
Hello George,
Sorry for the problems with the connections for FTP. Sometimes, the connections do not clear out. However, you can clear them in cPanel using the FTP connections option. You’ll see a way to clear out any existing connections. If you require further assistance on this issue, please contact our live technical support team. They can look at it issue immediately if it is required. Contact information for our support team can be found at the bottom of this page.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kindest regards,
Arnel C.
I am get it and i will enjoy by it thank you
Hi, I got a timeout error using filezilla
Error:Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error:Failed to retrieve directory listing
This is a new domain that I have recently purchase. I have no problem with my old domain.
Have you checked to see the domain is pointed to the server correctly? Also, is it set up on the cPanel as an addon domain?
Hello,
I’ve a reseller account and i manage myself most of the site i’ve selled. Is there a way to obtain ftp access to the other of my reseller accounts from my main ftp account?
Thanks
Michail
Hello Michaeil,
That is not possible as they are different cPanel accounts. If you were on a VPS you could log in with the root user via SFTP and manage files with different cPanel accounts but that is not possible on a reseller platform.
Best Regards,
TJ Edens
I have purchased domain and create html website.This is working well.
After that i purchased web hosting and now i connect to through ftp but can’t getting those html files? Why?
Please help me
Hello T.S>,
You would not be able to log into your normal FTP accounts using SFTP as it requires SSH users so on shared servers, your cPanel user. You could use FTPES which is an encrypted connections using normal FTP logins. Also if you are using SFTP you need to be using the ssh key just like if you were trying to connect to the server via SSH.
Best Regards,
TJ Edens
Hello uma,
Are you getting an error while trying to upload the files via FTP? Have you tried contacting our support department as they can monitor the logs in real time while you try to connect.
Best Regards,
TJ Edens
So I am trying to use the shared hosts SFTP option stated above (port 2222) but my ftp accounts do not show that available and when I tried to connect to the port with SFTP I get an authorization error. Is a secure connection to my server not available simply because I am on a shred plan?
My question is why my ftp connection keeps timing out. I’ve never had this problem with other sites I log into and really is frustrating that this thing shuts down so fast.
Hello LarryL,
That is not normal behavior with our servers. You may be having individual account issues so you will need to contact Live Support so they can work with your account specifically.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
I am also having an FTP problem. I created the ftp account. I set the directory to PUBLIC_HTML but when I connect I do not see any files. Instead it keeps saying “550 Can’t change directory to /public_html: No such file or directory” I have been able to connect and see files for other sites. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi
I’ve just purchased my hosting and signed into my cpanel. I’m however having a developer to work on my site and install drupla. Do I give the developer access to my entire cpanel??? I’ve created an FTP account for them to start but don’t know how to share this info to them. I also set up access to my home directory but don’t know if this limits what they can do. Can I just give them acess to my cpanel and change the password after the ste is delivered?
I appreciate any pointers, thanks!
Hello Glocal,
Thank you for contacting us. It really depends what they are trying to accomplish for you. We have a helpful article on Giving your developer or designer account access. It goes over the different level of access.
Thank you,
John-Paul
I had promblem with Filezilla so i decided to upload my back file using upload on file manager is that good way to do it or it wont work?
Hello Siya,
It depends on how big your backup is. If it is below 1GB then you should be fine however anything over that you should try to get filezilla working. What is the error that filezilla is giving you when you attempt to connect?
Best Regards,
TJ Edens
Hello Scott,
Thank you a lot for your fast full answer!
I will so remove all files and folders within my public_html folder, for replacing them by the folders & files of my new website created on my own computer, using my FTP (FileZilla) for sending them to my Inmotion public_html folder.
Thank you again for your availability.
Regards,
Andre C.
I’m still confused regarding FTP vs. SFTP. Which should I use?
Hello winjama,
For shared, it will always be SFTP over port 2222. For VPS and Dedicated you have the choice, but it is never a bad idea to use SFTP when possible. The difference is FTP sends the data (username and password) in plain text whereas the SFTP uses an encryption.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
Hi all,
I have a question. I first created a website directly on Inmotion, using Joomla. After what I created another website (same domaine name) on my own computer, using another website design software. I want now to replace my previous website (developed on Inmotion with Joomla), with my new developed website (done on my computer). I am using a FTP for transfering the files (FileZilla).
But at this stage, what do I have to do?
– Should I first remove ALL folders and files from the directory public_html here on Inmotion?
– Or should I just send in the directory public_html my new website folders and files without deleting the other folders and files?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Hello Andre,
If you installed Joomla using the Softaculous installer tool, then you can also use it to uninstall it. This will make quick work of removing the files and database that was installed.
While you can simply FTP your new site up to the public_html folder and overwrite what is there, it may be cluttered with some other residual Joomla files that are no longer used. The site should work just fine, however.
You can also simply remove all the files from public_html and then FTP your new ones up. This should work fine as well.
Lastly, you could rename the current public_html and then upload your current one. This way you could always retrieve any non-Joomla files that you may need from the original public_html folder and be sure they are unaltered
I would go with either uninstalling the Joomla via Softaculous or clearing out the public_html folder and then uploading what is on your local system if you have no other extraneous files to worry about.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
Can not for the life of me connect fireftp to my webserver. Im a complete noob. The server host i use is greengeeks. Can someone help?
Hello Casey,
FTP connections are only based on a few different variables. Obviously a username and password are two of these. The others, which are just as important, are the hostname (usually either a domain name or a server name) a port number (typically 21 for standard FTP). If any of these are incorrect, then the connection will fail. The good news is that these are the only settings you need. If you are not connecting properly and are certain of your connection variables, you will want to contact your host for individual assistance.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
Hi – we’re set up with an InMotion Hosting power plan, and are recently having problems with a new installation of Contribute adding blank lines to the code for our default page (not to any other pages). One of the suggestions I’ve received is that there is a mismatch in the permissions, and that the server platform has been defined incorrectly. Can you tell me what kind of server platform you’re using to host the site? I haven’t been able to quickly locate this information. Thanks.
Hello Penny,
Thank you for your question. You can view your Server Specification in cpanel at any time.
You can also modify permissions in cPanel, or over FTP.
Thank you,
John-Paul
I would like to use SFTP, no setting in my cpanel. At my old job they would not allow FTP, only SFTP. Now that im independent and dont have a Network admin for my every need Im figuring out this stuff for myslef. can you shed some light. Is FTP to home directories really that dangerous ? What are my best options. I have other hosts so I like to keep all my SFTP in WINSCP for fast access to multiple accounts
Thanks
Hello Scott,
Thank you for contacting us today. SFTP is available on shared hosting accounts, but you must use access keys.
At this time, we only have SFTP setup guide for FileZilla. That guide walks you through generating and downloading the access keys.
The settings will be the same in WINSCP, but the setup will differ. The official WINSCP guide:
“When configuring session, specify path to your private key on SSH > Authentication page of Advanced Site Settings dialog.”
Below are the SFTP settings for Shared Servers:
If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below.
Thank you,
John-Paul
FIXED! Again, thank you, thank you, for your speedy support and insight!!!
Ok, I have found the emails all in the cPanel email inbox.
I do not want to view my emails here though… can I not have it still be sending to my gmail? and then view through Microsoft Outlook?
Transferring individual emails is a bit more difficult in which it is best to simply forward them from that inbox once your domain is set up with Google Apps. Once you have pointed your domain to Google Apps as described in my previous comment, new email will then be delivered to Google Apps.
As you have changed your nameservers, the DNS records for mail have changed. You can simply follow our article on pointing your MX records to Google Apps to resolve the issue. Keep in mind that this change is also subject to propagation for up to 24 hours, but is usually much quicker.
This solution worked. Using the server hostname works.
After making this change with the nameservers, my email doesn’t seem to be working… it is set up through Gmail. I don’t seem to be receiving any emails at my email address anymore. The outgoing works, but incoming does not.
I have used a different email address in this comment, so that I can actually get the response!
Thanks!
I’m trying to set up my site and FTP my files, but having trouble connecting using Dreamweaver CS6.
I’ve followed the steps, using my FTP address, cPanel username and password, but it keeps coming up with an error connecting.
My nameservers (through DomainPeople, it is a .ca) were pointed to our previous hosting company, but I only JUST switched these to point to InMotion today. Would this nameserver redirection be the problem I am having with setting up my FTP and testing my site online?
As you have recently pointed your nameservers you may still be waiting for propagation. In the meantime, you can use your server hostname as the server address to connect.
yesterday when I tried to publish my website I got a message that there was a problem with the FTP process. I e-mailed support and I called the phone number and was advised there was a long wait time. Today I tried again and got the same error message and try calling however each time I pressed on number 2 for technical support, the call was hung up.
Hello Ronald,
Thank you for contacting us. Sorry for the problems getting through via phone, we are working on the phone system at this time. Please use our Support Chat option at the top of the page, if you do not want to wait for an email response to your ticket.
We are happy to help, but will need some additional information on your FTP problem. Are you using the Premium Web Builder? If you are, we have a troubleshooting guide for the Builder.
If you are not using the Builder, what are you using to publish with FTP?
What is the full error you are getting?
If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below.
Thank you,
John-Paul
Hello, I have downloaded and installed Store Manager for PrestaShop and are about setting up a FTP connection to my shop, so i am able to manage it directly. Am using my, server address – Username & password as requested in the setup, but always get this error: “Cannot connect to ftp server – socket error #10060 connection timed out”.
What am i doing wrong, any help much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Martin
If you are getting timeout errors, it is most likely due to incorrect server settings. Double-check your FTP settings to resolve the issue.
Thanks JeffMa, but have double checked everything and done exactly what it reads above,
Example.
Hostname: domain.com (My domain)
Username cPanel Username (my cpanel username)
Password cPanel Password (my cpanel password)
Port: 21.
I have contacted the company who created Store Manager, for help setting up their software and currently awaits their answer.
I am using CloudFlare could this cause connection error, regarding to the note above:
“Note! If your domain is not pointing to our server (See What is a name server? and Updating your domain’s dns / nameservers), you can use the Server host name or the server IP address to connect with FTP. otherwise you will get an error when trying to connect using FTP.” ??
Have you recently made any changes to your domain at all? Is it successfully pointed here?
CloudFlare would certainly cause the issue as it would be attempting to connect to CloudFlare instead of the main server. You would instead use the server hostname which would look something like biz123.inmotionhosting.com and can be found on the left side panel in cPanel.
No have not made any recently changes, only when I was setting up CloudFlare months ago, my site works fine and is successfully pointed to InMotion. I believe it is CloudFlare causing this, (human error that is), i was using my server address for the FTP setup and not the one you mentioned. I´ll try that when I arrive at my office tomorrow. Thanks JeffMa, much appreciated.
Template Tuning are doing my installation and have asked for my FTP and MySQL … i have no idea what this means or where to get the info can you help?
Hello Charlotte,
The information above tells you how to get our FTP login information. They will not be able to set up your MYSQL database ith FTP, so they will need the cPanel login information, which is the same as the FTP. You will simply need to tell them how to get to your cPanel. (yourdomain.com/cpanel)
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
I am trying to use the FTP program built into iWeb to upload my webfiles for publishing to my inmotionhosting account. When I fill out the required info in iWeb and then test the connection, it tells me the password is wrong. I am using the password that I use to access AMP and cPanel – it’s the only password I have.
The FTP program in iWeb asks for the following, and this is what I’m using:
Server Address: I am using ftp.thenameofmywebsite.com (I’m not listing the actual info here in this Comment/Question)
User Name: The user name I’ve been given to go with my website
Password: the one I use to access AMP and cPanel
Directory/Path: I’ve tried using this blank as well as with public_ftp
Protocol: FTP
Port: 21
Any ideas on what I need to do to upload my files? Thanks!
Hello Pamela,
Sorry to hear you’re having problems with iWeb and uploading the files. In this case, it would help if you could provide the exact information you’re using to upload the files. You can reply to this post, and before it appears to the public, we would remove that information. We would only use it to see if you’re using the right information and to test FTP with your credentials. The AMP user name is NOT the same as the cPanel user name. You should be using the cPanel user name. If you require further assistance, please provide us this information and then we can determine why you are unable to upload the files through iWeb using FTP.
Regards,
Arnel C.
I have an add-on domain with all files in the public_html directory. I finally got that, but none of the images are showing up (they are in the same directory). Text and everything else is fine. What to do? Thanks…
Hello Tara,
Sorry for the problems you’re seeing with the graphics. I was able to locate your account and look at the add-on domain and the problem. The issue appears to have been permission related. I ran a script to fix the permissions, and then when I cleared my browser cache and looked at the page, the graphics were loading.
Please let us know if you require any further assistance!
Kindest regards,
Arnel C.
I agree to the fact that it is easy to deal with the File Manager while using FTP. It allows a
number of files to be uploaded at a time to the server. I am sure that this guide to use
FTP will help a lot of people to deal with File Managers easier.
Hey guys. im getting a disk full error when i try to upload anything to our church website gatewayfaithfellowship.com. i use filezilla and it has worked perfectly for 4 years until today. someone had said it was possibly the server reaching capacity, any thoughts?
Hello John.
Although that is rare, it is a possibility. If that is the case, the Systems team will begin moving people to another server to lower the disk usage once more. There is a specific percentage where it flags the Systems team and does not allow any more data to be uploaded. It leaves room as a buffer to allow file movement and so the server does not get too bogged down.
To be sure, however, you would need to contact our Live Support team for your specific account to see if this is the case.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
Hi
we’ve hosted a simple static page and its been hosted properly. But the hosting company told us that we can have 100 email …., and i have sent an email to this website, but i couldn’t find the mail in the ftp…
I need help!
Hello Dawit,
Thank you for your question. Who is your email hosted with? How it is setup will depend on your Hosting company.
For example, our Email Getting Started guide explains how to create and check your email accounts.
If you have any further questions, feel free to post them below.
Thank you,
-John-Paul
HI Scott,
I am trying for a Unix machine.I tried with another and its working.I tried with not to ask password also.
Could you clarify what particular piece of software you are using to connect with?
Hi ,
I have connected to the server and my directories and file are also listed,When i am trying to open one of my file its failing.
-> USER sr465q
331 Password required for sr465q.
-> PASS *HIDDEN*
530 Login incorrect.
Note I am using RSA token to login the server, i set the oprtion to ask for password.
Hello,
What program are you using to connect to the server? Have you tried setting it to not ask for password? Have you tried any other application or browser to connect to FPT and gotten the same error?
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
I am webmaster for esteladorn.com. I can get an FTP connection but the only files in the right column are a directory (which when clicked indicates I’m already in the top directory) and a file named .ftpquota
How can I get to the directory with my files in it?
Hello Krista,
You need to login with your cPanel user name or change the folder name that you have accessible to be PUBLIC_HTML for the FTP user you created. If you want the technical information for your cPanel user, you can go to this article. The cPanel user can access all of the files in your account.
Regards,
Arnel C.