FTP is a standard protocol and the short form of File Transfer Protocol. It uses the Internet TCP/IP protocol to transfer files from one computer to another. FTP is commonly used to transfer web pages from the creator computer to the server where the web site is located.  Also FTP is used to download programs and files to your computer from a server.

How to use FTP?

To use FTP you will need to install FTP software on your computer. You can use the ftp using Internet explorer. There are many other freely available FTP programs on the Internet such as, FTP explorer http://www.ftpx.com and Smart FTP (http://www.smartftp.com). 

How to connect with FTP?

Follow the steps mentioned below to connect to a server, to upload files using FTP Explorer:

Click on the connect button on the toolbar or select connect from the Tools menu.

In the Profile Name text, enter a name to give your FTP connection.
 
In the Host Address text box enter the address of the server you are connecting.

Enter the Port number that the server accepts FTP connections on (the default port for FTP is 21).

Either enter user name for the FTP login or tick the Anonymous option (the anonymous option will only work if the server is set up to allow anonymous FTP connections if this is selected go to step 10). And enter the user password in the Password text box.

In the Initial path text box, enter the path on the server, where you want your connection to start at this is optional.

In the Attempts text box enter the number of times to try the FTP connection if fails, you will need to have at least 1 in this text box.

In the Download path you can specify the path on your computer where to save the files downloaded from the server this is optional, you can specify this later if you like.

To establish the connection with the server, click on the Connect button.

How to upload files using FTP?

Once you have established your connection with the server the next step is to upload your files to the server.  The following describes how to do this:

Go to the path on the server where you want to upload your files using FTP.

In the Tools menu click on the Upload button.
 
Select the file or files that you want to upload (to select more than one file hold down the CTRL key).

You can also upload files by dragging and dropping them to the directory/folder on the server.

Click on the Open button.  Your file will now be uploaded to the server. (You will see this uploading process in the dialog box.)

How to download files using FTP?

You can also use FTP to download files to your computer from a server.  The following describes how to download a file.

Go to the file that you want to download.

Right click on the file and select Download to select the path on your computer where you want the file to be saved to.

The file will now be downloaded to your computer.