Why Finder isn't enough

macOS can connect to an FTP server from Finder's Go → Connect to Server, but Apple notes that you can only copy files from it; to copy files to the server you need another app. FTPS, FTP with TLS encryption, isn't on Finder's list at all. See Apple's Connect your Mac to shared computers and servers.

FTP, FTPS or SFTP?

Encrypted Notes
FTP No Password and files travel in the clear. Use it only on a trusted network, or when nothing else is offered.
FTPS Yes, with TLS FTP with encryption. Common on web hosts and backup servers.
SFTP Yes, over SSH A different protocol, often on the same host. See SFTP on a Mac.

If your host offers SFTP or FTPS, use one of those.

Before FTPS: install the Command Line Tools

AnyBucket runs FTPS's TLS through a small Python bridge, so it needs python3 from Apple's Command Line Tools. If you don't have them:

  1. Open Terminal.
  2. Run xcode-select --install and follow the prompts.

Plain FTP needs nothing extra.

Connect in AnyBucket

  1. Press ⇧⌘K (File → Connect to Server…).
  2. Under Servers, pick FTP or FTPS.
  3. Type the server, your user name and password. The password goes to your login keychain.
  4. Optionally type a starting path, such as /public_html, and a nickname.
  5. Press Connect, or save it as a bookmark first.

Or paste an ftp:// or ftps:// address into the palette (⌘K).

AnyBucket connects in passive mode, which works through most firewalls and home routers, and FTPS uses explicit TLS. If the server's certificate is self-signed, AnyBucket asks once and remembers your choice for that bookmark.

Upload a website

  1. Open your site's folder on This Mac in one pane and the server in the other (⌘\ opens a second pane).
  2. Mark the files with Space, or press ⌘A to mark them all.
  3. Press F5. If a file is already there, choose Replace, Replace if Newer, Keep Both, Skip or Resume, and tick Apply to all to answer once.

To upload only what changed, press ⌥F5 instead: Compare & Sync lists every new or changed file before anything moves. See sync a folder with a server.

Move off FTP

Moving a site or an archive from an old FTP host to S3, WebDAV or SFTP? Open the FTP server in one pane and the new home in the other, mark and press F5. Files stream through a small spool on your Mac, with no download to manage. See copy files between servers.

If it doesn't connect

  • FTPS fails straight away: install the Command Line Tools (above). See troubleshooting.
  • The login works but listings hang: the server's passive ports may be blocked by its firewall. Ask your host which ports it uses for passive mode.
  • A transfer stopped: it retries by itself; anything still failing waits under Needs attention in the Transfers window (⌥⌘T).