Set up FTP accessTransfer files to your web hosting encrypted

Published on October 20, 2026

File manager or FTP program?

Both routes lead to the same files - they differ in convenience:

• File manager in Plesk. Runs in the browser, without installation. Ideal for quickly editing a file, checking permissions or unpacking an archive. It becomes unwieldy for many files at once.
• FTP program. A separate program on your computer that establishes a permanent connection. The right choice as soon as whole directories are to be transferred, transfers resumed or files synchronized regularly.

The rule of thumb: change a single file - file manager. Upload a website - FTP program. When moving an existing site, there is no way around an FTP program anyway.

Credentials and additional accounts

For every subscription, there is already a system user with file access - you will find the credentials in Plesk under Websites & Domains in the FTP Access section. You create additional accounts there as well:

1. Open FTP Access and click Add an FTP Account.
2. Give the account a name - it later becomes the user name.
3. Set the home directory. That is the decisive point: the account sees only this directory and everything below it.
4. Set a separate password.
5. Save.

Additional accounts are not an end in themselves. If an agency or a contractor works on a project, they get an account whose home directory points exactly to that project - and therefore no access to the plan's other domains. Your main access is not affected.

Set up the connection in FileZilla

FileZilla is the most widespread free client and is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. Setup runs via the Site Manager, not the Quickconnect bar - the encryption settings cannot be set there at all.

The encryption line is the most important. If it says Only use plain FTP, user name and password travel over the line in plain text. So explicitly choose Require explicit FTP over TLS - then the connection aborts rather than transferring unencrypted.

On the first connection, FileZilla shows the server's certificate. Tick Always trust this certificate in future sessions, and the prompt only appears once.

Understand the directory structure

After connecting, you do not land directly at your website, but one level above it. That is confusing the first time - the most important directories:

The rule behind it: only what is in httpdocs can be reached from the internet. Nobody can retrieve a file one level above via the browser - which is practical if you want to store a configuration file or a backup there, for example.

A footnote on backups: a copy on the same web hosting is not a real backup. Take your backup via the Plesk backup manager and download a version to your own computer - we do not create automatic backups for you.

Subdomains and further domains

If you create a subdomain or a further domain in Plesk, it gets its own document root. Depending on the setting, it lives inside httpdocs - such as httpdocs/shop - or as a separate branch next to it.

Which path actually applies is shown in Plesk for each domain under the hosting settings in the Document root field. This look is worthwhile before the first upload: files in the wrong directory are the most common reason why the old site or a placeholder page still appears after uploading.

When the connection does not work

• Timeout while listing directories. Almost always the active instead of passive transfer mode. Switch to Passive in the connection's transfer settings.
• Login failed (530). User name or password are wrong. Make sure to use the name of the FTP account, not your email address and not the Plesk login.
• Connection is closed immediately. Often a local firewall or virus scanner blocks the data connection. Disable it briefly as a test - and if that was the cause, add an exception for the FTP program.
• Certificate warning on every connection. The tick for permanent trust was not set. Confirm it correctly once, and it is gone.
• Upload runs, but the site does not change. Usually the wrong directory - check whether the files really ended up under the document root of the right domain. The second most common cause is a cache, see Speed up your website.
• Error 550 when writing. No write permissions in the target directory, or the account's home directory ends above it. You check both in Plesk for the FTP account.

Frequently asked questions