How to: GoDaddy FTP

Use FTP to upload files to your GoDaddy website.

GoDaddy customers needing to upload files to their website can use the "File Manager" option in the GoDaddy hosting control center. For large batches of files, however, it may be preferable to use a client supporting the File Transfer Protocol, or "FTP." There are a wide range of clients available, and GoDaddy is compatible with any FTP program, so long as it allows connections in "passive" mode -- designed for use with clients needing to connect from behind firewalls or home networking solutions.

Things You'll Need

• FTP client
• Account hosted with GoDaddy (not just a parked domain name)

Instructions

1. Open your FTP client. If you're a Windows user and just need quick FTP access, you can also use Explorer to access an FTP site (by typing in the address in the address bar). Mac OSX users can use Finder for read-only access by using "Cmd+K" and typing the address at the prompt.

2. Start a new FTP connection. When your FTP client prompts you to enter a "host name" or "address," type the address of the site hosted with GoDaddy, preceded by "ftp://" -- for example, if GoDaddy hosted the website "example.com," you would enter "ftp://example.com."

3. Enter your user name and password. These will be the same user name and password associated with your GoDaddy website, which you should have received when you opened your account with GoDaddy. You will need both pieces of information. If you have forgotten either, use the GoDaddy Account Manager to recover them.

4. Click "connect" to open an FTP connection to your website. GoDaddy doesn't require you to define a "home" directory in the FTP client, so the rest of the default settings will be fine.

5. Drag files from your computer into the FTP client (or choose "upload" from the FTP client's menu) to upload them to your website. If you need to download files from your website instead, drag them from the FTP client to a window on your computer.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't already have an FTP client on hand, FileZilla is an open-source, cross-platform solution with pre-compiled versions available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

References

• GoDaddy: Uploading Files to Your Website
• GoDaddy: Using the File Manager in the Hosting Control Center