I ditched modern file transfer apps for a 25-year-old FTP client—here’s why

Most people default to relying on cloud storage for wireless transfers between computers. However, there is a better and faster way to transfer files wirelessly (provided they are connected to the same local network.) Instead of uploading files to the cloud just to access them on another device, you can use FileZilla. FileZilla is a free and open source application that lets you wirelessly drag and drop files between devices. This is much faster than the cloud route, especially for large file transfers.

Why use FileZilla instead of cloud transfers

It’s faster and easier

FileZilla was released in 2001 and it is one of the most popular open source applications in the world. It is available for Windows, Linux and macOS machines. It uses FTP or File Transfer Protocol in the background to connect devices and share files between them.

This protocol has been around since the 70s and is universally supported. Since it works on your local network, the transfer speed is limited only by your local network. You can expect Gigabit speeds over Ethernet and about half that over Wi-Fi connections.

How to configure FileZilla on your computer

Install and use FileZilla

You just need two things for this to work:

1. FileZilla Client application on the receiving computer and FileZilla Server application on the computer sharing files.

2. Both computers must be connected to the same Wi-Fi or router via Ethernet.

This will be a one-time setup. Once configured, you can move files simply by dragging them between the local and remote panes.

For this demo, I will be using a Windows and Linux machine. The Windows computer will be the client and the Linux machine will be the server, which shares its files. The FileZilla interface is pretty much the same across all platforms, so the step-by-step instructions are mostly identical as well.

The apps are available for free on the FileZilla website. To get started, install the FileZilla client on your local computer. I will install it on my Windows computer. You can grab the correct installer for your machine from the FileZilla website or use a command-line package manager. Once you have installed and configured FileZilla, you will find a split-screen interface with interactive file trees.

One pane displays all the files on your current computer (labeled as local site) and the other pane displays the files on the target computer (labeled as remote site). You can simply drag files or folders from one pane to another to transfer files between two computers. For smaller files this should be almost instantaneous.

The remote site will be empty by default. This pane is where the FTP server files will appear. You will also see input fields at the top and a “Quick Login” button. This is where you can enter the details of the target FTP and connect to it.

Configure FileZilla on the other computer

Install and configure an FTP server using FileZilla

Next, we will install the FileZilla Server application on the computer that is sharing the files. For me, it’s my Linux computer. I can either install FileZilla Server using the prebuilt binaries available on the FileZilla website or use my command line package manager.

Once installed, a pop-up will ask you to connect to localhost. This tells FileZilla Server that we want it to run on the same computer it is installed on. It will also ask you for the password. The password is the same one you use to unlock your computer.

To start the FTP server and point it to the folders or files we want to share, click Server > Configure. Or press Ctrl+F. Select the Users tab, then click Add to create a new user. Give it a username of your choice (you’ll need it later.) Select “Do Not Authenticate” from the Authentication menu.

Then all you need to do is enter the directory paths to the folders you want to share. For the virtual path, simply type a forward slash and press Enter. For native path, enter the actual path to the shared folder. Click Add in the Mount Points menu to add more paths. It should look like this. Then click Apply.

We need one more thing to complete the setup: the local IP address of the remote machine (the Linux computer, in my case.) You can find it by running a simple command. On Linux you can run ip addr show. On Windows, run ipconfig. Take note of this.

There are other features as well, but that’s all you need to send files between the two devices.

Connect to FTP server and move files between computers

How to make drag and drop work

Let’s connect to the FTP server we just set up on the remote computer. Return to the receiving computer (Windows, in my case) and open the FileZilla Client application.

Enter the local IP address (that you looked up on the other computer) where it says “Host.” The username will be the username you set on the FileZilla server on the other computer. Then click Quick connection. You can now drag and drop files between the local site and remote site panes.

Some troubleshooting tips

What to do if you get errors during setup

If you get errors while FileZilla establishes the connection or scans the remote directory, it is likely due to one of two reasons.

1. The built-in firewall on the remote computer blocks port 21, which FTP uses by default.

2. “Require TLS” is enabled under the Server Listeners tab in FileZilla Server Configuration.

To resolve this issue, you can add port 21 to the firewall’s allowlist and change to “Explicit TLS over Insecure Simple FTP” under the Protocol Settings in the Server Listeners tab.

7/10

Brand

Synology

Processor

Intel Celeron J4125

Memory

2 GB DDR4 non-ECC

Drive bays

4

The easiest way to share files locally

You now have a simple setup for transferring files that works by simply dragging files and folders between two windows. As long as the target device can run an FTP server, FileZilla can extract files from it.