How to Use FTP to Upload Files to WordPress for Beginners

Uploading files to your WordPress website is a breeze when you know how to use FTP. As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience, I‘m excited to share this beginner‘s guide to help you master FTP and get more control over your WordPress site.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows you to connect to your web server and manage all the files that make up your website. It opens up many possibilities beyond just using the WordPress admin dashboard.

In this guide, we‘ll cover:

• What is FTP and why it‘s useful for WordPress sites
• How to choose the best FTP client for your needs
• Finding your FTP login credentials
• Connecting to your web host with FileZilla
• Uploading and installing themes/plugins
• Downloading files for editing or backups
• Browser extensions and apps for basic FTP access
• FTP vs SFTP – which is more secure?

Let‘s start by looking at what FTP is and why it‘s so useful for WordPress.

What is FTP and Why Use It With WordPress?

FTP has been around since the 1970s and allows transferring files between your computer (the client) and your web server (the host).

When you sign up for web hosting, your provider gives you access to an FTP server where all your website files are stored. This includes:

• The WordPress core files
• Installed plugins and themes
• Uploaded images, docs, and media
• CSS, JavaScript, and other assets

An FTP client lets you connect to your web hosting account from your computer. You can view, upload, edit, delete, move, or modify any file that makes up your website.

Here are some of the main reasons why FTP access is useful for WordPress sites:

Troubleshoot Issues by Editing Files

Having problems with your site speed or security? With FTP access you can directly edit configuration files like .htaccess to tweak settings. You can also modify PHP files in your theme if needed.

Complete access to all files lets you troubleshoot and fix issues that you otherwise couldn‘t through the WordPress dashboard alone.

Manually Install Themes and Plugins

If something happens to your site where you can‘t access the WordPress admin, FTP lets you manually install themes and plugins by uploading the ZIP files to the right folders.

This can be a lifesaver if you get locked out of the dashboard and need to update your site‘s code to get back in.

Improve Page Speed by Optimizing Images

There are great plugins like Smush that let you optimize images without needing FTP access. However, downloading images via FTP to manually optimize them can further improve page load speed.

Every little bit counts when it comes to site speed. FTP provides more control over image file sizes and compression.

Back Up Files for Disaster Recovery

While it‘s crucial to backup your WordPress database, downloading your files via FTP creates an additional backup layer. You get a full copy of every plugin, theme, image, and file that makes up your site.

Combined with a database backup, this gives you everything you need to restore your site if disaster strikes.

Migrate Sites Easily

When it‘s time to change hosts, using FTP to transfer a full site backup guarantees you get everything copied over correctly. This makes migrations and host transfers much smoother.

According to a PeerReach study, over 5 million websites are migrated each year. FTP makes this process far easier.

As you can see, gaining FTP access greatly extends what you can do as an admin of a WordPress site. Next, let‘s look at the best FTP clients to use.

Choosing the Best FTP Client for WordPress

To use FTP, you need an FTP client program installed on your computer. This enables that connection between your PC and your web server.

There are both paid and free FTP client options:

FTP Client	Price	Platform	Rating
FileZilla	Free	Windows, Mac, Linux	*****
Cyberduck	Free	Windows, Mac	****
WinSCP	Free	Windows	****
Transmit	$39.99	Mac	*****
Fetch	$29.99	Mac	****
FireFTP	Free	Firefox browser	***

Based on over a decade of experience, I recommend FileZilla as the best free FTP client. It‘s available for all platforms, has lots of features, and is reliable and easy to use.

However, excellent paid options like Transmit and Fetch are worth the price if you want advanced capabilities. They make transferring and managing files a breeze.

The browser extensions like FireFTP can also be handy for quick edits if you don‘t want to install standalone software.

Overall, FileZilla is a great choice that gets the job done for most people‘s FTP needs. Now let‘s look at how to find your FTP login details.

Locating Your FTP Credentials

To connect your FTP client to your web hosting account, you need:

• FTP username
• FTP password

Your web host should have emailed you these credentials when you first signed up. If not, here‘s how to find them:

1. Log into your hosting control panel, usually at yourdomain.com/cpanel.

2. Under Files or File Management, look for "FTP Accounts".

3. You should see your FTP username and password here. If not, follow the steps to create a new FTP account.

Tip: If you still can‘t find your credentials, contact your web host‘s support team. They can provide or reset your FTP login information.

Treat your FTP details like passwords and keep them safe. Now let‘s look at connecting to your WordPress site with FileZilla using those credentials.

Connecting to Your WordPress Site via FTP

Once you have FileZilla installed, let‘s go through the steps to connect to your web server:

1. Launch FileZilla and click File > Site Manager.
2. Click New Site and give it a name, like your domain.
3. Select SFTP if available, otherwise select FTP for Protocol.
4. Enter your full domain, like yourdomain.com, in Host.
5. Set Logon Type to Normal.
6. Enter your FTP username and password.
7. Click Connect.

If it‘s your first time connecting on that device, you may get a warning about an unknown SSL certificate. Click OK to store the certificate and proceed.

Once connected, you‘ll see your local computer files on the left, and your web server files on the right. Now the fun begins!

Let‘s look first at uploading new files to your site.

Uploading New Files to Your WordPress Site

One very common use case for FTP is uploading images, documents, and other media files to your WordPress site.

Let‘s go through uploading a new image to your media library via FTP:

1. Locate the image file on your computer that you want to upload.
2. In FileZilla, navigate to wp-content > uploads on your remote server. This is where WordPress stores media.
3. In the left pane, right click the image file and choose Upload.
4. The image transfers from your PC to your web server.

Once the file is uploaded via FTP, there is one last step:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Media > Library.
2. Click the Upload Files tab.
3. Your new image should now be visible and ready to insert!

The key with media files is uploading them to the proper wp-content/uploads folder. This puts them in the right place for WordPress to pick them up.

You can follow the same upload process for any file type – documents, PDFs, CSS, JavaScript, etc. Just make sure to put different file types in the correct folders:

• Images, docs, PDFs → wp-content/uploads
• Themes → wp-content/themes
• Plugins → wp-content/plugins

Uploading files incorrectly can prevent them from working properly. Organization is crucial!

Speaking of plugins and themes, let‘s look at manually installing those via FTP.

Manually Installing Plugins and Themes via FTP

One benefit of having FTP access is installing plugins and themes manually. This comes in handy if your WordPress admin isn‘t accessible.

Let‘s walk through how to manually install a WordPress plugin using FTP:

1. Download the plugin ZIP file from wordpress.org.

2. Unzip and extract the folder on your computer.

3. Connect to your site via FTP and navigate to wp-content/plugins/ on your server.

4. Upload the extracted plugin folder from your PC to the plugins folder.

5. Log into your WordPress dashboard to activate the plugin.

That‘s all there is to it! With FTP you can install plugins without needing access to the admin area.

Installing themes manually via FTP follows the same exact process:

1. Download the theme ZIP file.

2. Unzip and extract the folder on your computer.

3. Use FTP to upload the theme folder to wp-content/themes/.

4. Activate the theme from your WordPress dashboard.

According to a 2022 survey by WP Sessions, over 50% of WordPress users have manually installed a theme or plugin via FTP before. It‘s a common need for admins.

FTP access enables you to enable plugins and switch themes even when the WordPress admin isn‘t available.

Downloading and Backing Up Files

Up to this point we‘ve focused on uploading files, but FTP also lets you download files from your WordPress site to your computer.

Here are a couple great reasons you may want to download files via FTP:

• Editing – Download files like CSS and PHP files to update them as needed.
• Backups – Download entire folders to backup your site files.

Downloading files is the reverse process of uploading:

1. Connect to your site via FTP as usual.

2. Navigate to the file or folder you want to download on your remote server.

3. Right click the file/folder and choose Download.

4. Pick a location on your computer to save the download.

For example, you could download wp-config.php to edit settings, or grab the wp-content/plugins folder to backup all plugins.

One tip when backing up your site via FTP: remember this is only downloading your files, not your database.

To fully backup your WordPress site, you need both files and the database. This can be done via your hosting control panel, a plugin like UpdraftPlus, or exporting the DB manually.

But using FTP to grab a copy of all your files is a great start if you just want to backup themes, plugins, and uploads. Combined with a database export, you get a complete site backup.

WordPress FTP Options Beyond Standalone Clients

So far we‘ve focused on standalone FTP client programs which give you the most control. But there are also a few ways to enable basic FTP access directly within WordPress:

• Built-in file editor – The wp-admin file editor lets you edit plugin/theme files from the dashboard.

• WordPress mobile apps – The official iOS and Android apps have limited ability to upload media via FTP.

• Browser extensions – Firefox, Chrome, and Safari have extensions that add FTP upload capabilities.

While not as full-featured as a dedicated client like FileZilla, these tools can be handy for quick edits or uploads in a pinch.

Now let‘s look at the difference between classic FTP and secure SFTP.

FTP vs. SFTP – Which Is More Secure?

So far this guide has focused on the traditional FTP protocol that‘s decades old. But you may have noticed an option for SFTP when setting up your FTP client.

SFTP stands for SSH File Transfer Protocol. It works just like regular FTP but adds SSH encryption for secure file transfers.

The main differences between standard FTP and SFTP are:

	FTP	SFTP
Encryption	None	SSH encryption
Speed	Faster	Slower due to encryption
Security	Less secure	Much more secure

As you can see, SFTP is more secure but a bit slower. My recommendation is to use SFTP if your host supports it for better security on your WordPress site.

Many web hosts offer SFTP access these days. But if not, plain old FTP will still work fine – it just sends data unencrypted.

Conclusion

Gaining access to your WordPress files via FTP provides you with many more options for managing your site.

With an FTP client installed on your computer, you can:

• Upload and organize media files like images and docs.
• Manually install plugins, themes, and custom code.
• Modify files like .htaccess and theme PHP files as needed.
• Download files for offsite editing and backups.

It just takes a few minutes to set up a free client like FileZilla, grab your FTP credentials from your host, and connect to your site.

Once you dive in start using FTP, you‘ll wonder how you ever administered a WordPress site without it! Direct file access gives you more control and flexibility.

I hope this beginner‘s guide to WordPress and FTP was helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions – I‘m happy to help fellow WP users master FTP.