Once you are connected to the FTP server, you can browse the remote server like any other local folder on your Mac, because the server is treated just like a normal file system window in the Finder.Ĭopying files to the remote server, or downloading them to the Mac, is done easily with simple and familiar drag and drop. Navigating & Transferring Files with FTP & FTPS Because SFTP and SSH in general are generally command line based, that’s really a topic for another article, so we’ll keep things simple here and stick with FTP and FTPS. Nonetheless, OS X does include a native SFTP client as well, and it’s accessible from the Terminal by typing “sftp at the command line. FTPS connections are supported directly in OS X’s built-in FTP functionality, while SFTP through SSH is not accessible through the same “Connect to Server” menu.

Something to keep in mind is that FTPS and SFTP are two different protocols FTPS is FTP with a secure SSL layer, while SFTP uses SSH (yes, the same protocol that SSH servers are enabled by with Remote Login in OS X). The minor difference is pointed out in the screenshot below: This is dependent on the remote server having SSL support and acceping FTPS connections, which most servers do. If you want to connect to secured FTPS server, all you need to do is prefix the domain with ftps:// rather than ftp://. If you want to use a secured connection instead you just need to make a tiny modification, which we’ll discuss next. Here is what starting a standard FTP connection will look like: Enter the FTP username and password, or connect as “Guest” if the server allows guest connections and click on “Connect” again.Click on “Connect” and wait to connect to the remote server.Optional: If you want to add a bookmark to ‘Favorite Servers’ for repeated connections, click on the + icon next to the “Server Address” field.Enter the address of the ftp server in the following format:.From your Mac desktop or Finder, hit Command+K to pull up the “Connect to Server” window (alternatively, you can access this from the “Go” menu).Regardless, here’s how to start an FTP connection from Mac OS X to a remote server: If you want to test this by connecting to a real server, use and login as a Guest.

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