WinSCP is one of the recommended FTP clients for Windows. You can use it to upload files from local computer to server or vice versa, download files from server to local computer. This FTP client comes in a dual-pane interface and supports drag and drop operation. To upload files from local computer to server, all you need to do is drag the files you want to upload from the left-hand panel and drop them to the right-hand panel. Similarly, to download files from server to local computer you can drag the files from the right hand panel and drop them to the left-hand panel.

WinSCP itself is an open-source software, yet the developer only provides the binary file of this tool for Windows. In addition to FTP, WinSCP also supports other protocols including SFTP, SCP, WebDAV and Amazon S3.

You can download the binary file of WinSCP for Windows on its official page. Or, if you want to support the development of this project, you can also buy WinSCP via Microsoft Store.

How to use WinSCP

Before using WinSCP, make sure you already know the hostname of your server (it can be IP address or domain), FTP username and password. Assuming that you have installed WinSCP on your computer, launch it to get started. On the first use of WinSCP, you will be asked to create your first connection. A pop-up will appear immediately as the app open, asking you to enter your hostname, username and password. Before entering your hostname, user and password, change file protocol to FTP (if you want to use FTP). Click the Login button.

Once you have successfully connected to your server via FTP, you can start either uploading files from local computer to server or vice versa. Simply drag files from the left-hand panel and drop them to the right panel to upload them to server. Or drag files from the right-hand panel to the left-hand panel to download them from server to local computer.

Once done calculating the total file size, WinSCP will start copying the files to the destination.