FAQ

This is a list of frequently asked questions and corresponding answers. Please read this topic carefully before asking any questions.

General FAQ

1. How much does FileZilla cost?
   Is FileZilla free?
   Can FileZilla be used commercially?
   FileZilla is free open-source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License free of charge.
   Basically this means that everyone, including corporate entities, can use FileZilla, including but not limited to private, educational and commercial use.
2. What do the version numbers of FileZilla mean?
   The version numbers of FileZilla (client and server) are in the following format: n.n.n[c], where n is a number and c an alphabetical character. The first number is the major version number followed by two minor version numbers. The character at the end is optional and indicates maintenance releases, which mostly fix bugs; the "a" or "b" suffix does NOT imply the instabilities conventionally associated with an "alpha" or "beta" quality release.
   
   Example: 2.2.4 would be the original version, the first maintenance would then get 2.2.4a as version, the next 2.2.4b and so on.
   
   
3. I have a question, where can I get help?
   Most importantly, don't rush. Think before you ask. What are you trying to do? What is happening instead? What should have happened? You might find the following two guides of interest:
   How To Ask Questions The Smart Way by Eric S. Raymond
   How to Report Bugs Effectively by Simon Tatham
4. How to get in contact with with the FileZilla team?
   There are several ways to establish contact with the developers: the easiest way might be the use of our forum or, if a direct conversation is needed, IRC - #filezilla at freenode (chat.freenode.net or see the list of servers).

FileZilla Client FAQ

1. I can't list the contents of any directory on the server or I can't transfer any files
   I get "Critical transfer errors"
   I can't connect to my server
   Most likely incorrect configuration of either FileZilla, your firewall, your router or a combination of it. Please read the Network Configuration guide.
2. What are the command line options supported by FileZilla?
   See Command-line arguments (Client)
3. Where does FileZilla store all its sites and settings?
   The location of FileZilla's settings directory depends on your operating system. On most systems, sites and settings are stored in the ~/.filezilla directory. The odd exception is Windows, where the settings are stored in the %APPDATA%/FileZilla directory.
4. Why won't FileZilla start anymore?
   This could happen if for some reason your FileZilla installation or the settings get corrupted. First try to reinstall FileZilla, this won't change your settings. If that does not help, delete FileZilla's settings directory (see above). Notice that all your settings and sites are lost if you do this without taking a backup.
5. I can't start FileZilla under Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4 or 2000, it terminates with a runtime error.
   The most recent versions of FileZilla no longer support Windows 9x/ME/NT4/2000. Please consider upgrading your OS to Windows XP or higher, especially since the older Windows versions are no longer supported by Microsoft. Using older versions of FileZilla is not recommended due to known security vulnerabilities.
6. I want to help, how can I translate the FileZilla client?
   Please see http://filezilla-project.org/translations.php for details.
7. FileZilla does not display or transfer files containing non-English characters
   Please see the Character Set entry.

FileZilla Server FAQ

1. I've just installed the server and after starting the interface, it asks for a server address.
   Despite administrating the server on the local machine, the interface can also be used to administrate remote servers. But you will most likely want to administrate your local server. In this case enter 127.0.0.1 as server address. For the server port, you have to enter the same port number you did specify during installation for the admin port. (default: 14147)
2. I'm behind a firewall and nobody can connect to my server or transfer files / directory listings
   You have to configure your firewall to allow incoming connections on the ftp port (default: 21), as well as allowing outgoing connections from the server. In FTP Active Mode, FileZilla Server tries to use a port one less than the ftp port for outgoing connections. If that fails it tries to use a port one larger than the ftp port and after that it requests a port from windows. It may be best to allow all outgoing connections from the server. Further you have to allow a port range for incoming connections for passive mode transfers. You can specify this port range on the "passive mode settings" page in the settings dialog in the server interface. In most cases, a range like 5000-5100 is sufficient. With certain firewalls, it may be possible that FileZilla can't determine the external IP address. In this case you have to enter the IP address (or your host name) on the passive mode page in the settings dialog. In case you've a dynamic IP (most dial-up users), you can also choose to retrieve the ip address from a website.
3. I'm behind a router and nobody can connect to my server or transfer files / directory listings
   You have to configure your router to forward the ftp port (default: 21) to the server machine. Further you have to forward a port range for passive mode transfers. You can specify this port range on the "passive mode settings" page in the settings dialog in the server interface. In most cases, a range like 5000-5100 is sufficient. Most likely, FileZilla can't determine the external IP address if behind a router. In this case you have to enter the IP address (or your host name) on the passive mode page in the settings dialog. In case you've a dynamic IP (most dial-up users), you can also choose to retrieve the ip address from a website.
4. I'm behind a router and a firewall and nobody can connect to my server or transfer files / directory listings
   Just follow both steps 2 and 3 in this case.
5. How can I enable anonymous logins?
   Just create an account with the name anonymous and make sure the password box isn't checked on that account.
6. How can I test that my server can be reached from the internet?
   It's not possible to check the accessibility of the server by connecting from inside the local network (or even localhost) by entering the external IP in a client. Reason is that most firewalls and/or routers only forward ports for requests coming from outside the internal network. So you would have to connect to your server from an external machine. You can test the accessibility of your server using the free service from http://ftptest.net/.
7. How do aliases work?
   How can I share multiple drives?
   Let's assume the server's home directory is set to C:\ftproot and you want to make your picture collection in D:\mypictures available as /pictures. Add D:\mypictures to the list of shared folders and select its entry. Next add /pictures in the alias column. Now the server will display the virtual directory pictures right in the root directory and its contents will be those of D:\mypictures.
8. How can I share network drives?
   Generally sharing network drives is not recommended, as all data has to be transferred twice. Just install FileZilla Server on the other machine instead. If you still want to share a network drives with FileZilla Server, make sure the account FileZilla Server runs under has access to the network drive. By default, FileZilla Server runs using the SYSTEM account. You can change the account FileZilla Server uses on the service page in the management console of Windows: Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services -> FileZilla Server FTP server -> Log On. However, even then sharing mapped network drives might not work since Windows networking has some bugs.
9. Command line options for FileZilla Server
   See Command-line arguments (Server)
10. Is it safe for all user and groups settings to upgrade from older Filezilla server?
    Yes, installing a new version over an older version does not change any settings.