As a free client program, WinSCP is geared towards users who do not want to leave anything to chance when it comes to the safety of their data and login in­form­a­tion. WinSCP is designed for an encrypted data transfer via SCP (secure copy) and SFTP (SSH file transfer protocol), making it a safe al­tern­at­ive to con­ven­tion­al FTP clients such as FileZilla or Total Commander. The software is quick to install and has two clearly designed user in­ter­faces as well as a series of practical functions, including an in­teg­rated text editor and the automatic syn­chron­isa­tion of two dir­ect­or­ies.

In­stall­a­tion

The open-source software is covered by the GNU general public license, so it is free for both private and corporate use, editing and dis­tri­bu­tion from the official WinSCP website. Download the in­stall­a­tion package and save the file in a local folder of your choice.

Setup language

To start the in­stall­a­tion process, open the down­loaded .exe file by double clicking and choose the language you wish to use for the in­stall­a­tion process.

Image: WinSCP Select Setup Language
WinSCP allows you to select the language you want for using the program (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/guide_install)

License agreement

The set up assistant will start after clicking ‘OK’. You will then be prompted to close all ap­plic­a­tions currently in use before con­tinu­ing with the in­stall­a­tion. This is followed by the license agree­ments. Read the terms and con­di­tions thor­oughly and click ‘Accept’ to confirm and continue with the in­stall­a­tion.

Selecting an in­stall­a­tion type

Next you can choose an in­stall­a­tion type. As well as a standard in­stall­a­tion, it is also possible to create a custom in­stall­a­tion. The latter allows you to define the in­stall­a­tion path and the in­di­vidu­al com­pon­ents. The following are generally needed for an encrypted data transfer:

  • WinSCP ap­plic­a­tion
  • Drag and drop extension
  • Pageant (SSH au­then­tic­a­tion agent)
  • PuTTYgen (key generator)

You also have the option to create different shortcuts to WinSCP such as a desktop icon.

Image: WinSCP installation type
Here you can select the com­pon­ents you want to install (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/in­stall­a­tion)

Choosing the user interface

In the next step, you will be asked to choose a user interface for WinSCP. Here, you can choose between the commander interface and the explorer interface. The commander interface presents local file systems as well as the web server directory, organised into two parallel folder views; meanwhile, the explorer interface leans toward the structure of Windows Explorer. Should you wish to select commander interface, for example, check the cor­res­pond­ing option, as shown here:

Image: Choosing the WinSCP user interface
Select your use interface: choose from the commander interface or the explorer interface (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/guide_install)

After choosing the user interface, click ‘Next’ and start the in­stall­a­tion. WinSCP is then ready to be connected to the network.

Con­nect­ing WinSCP to a web server

To connect WinSCP to your server, open the program by double clicking the program icon. A log-in window will pop up. To establish a con­nec­tion to a web server, click on ‘New site’. Then choose the desired transfer protocol and give the host name as well as your username and the cor­res­pond­ing password for server access. If you prefer, you can give the IP address of the server rather than the host name. The port number is produced auto­mat­ic­ally as a result of the choice of transfer protocol. Setting up an encrypted SSH con­nec­tion generally also requires ex­chan­ging an SSH key pair.

Image: Connecting WinSCP to a web server
In just a few steps, you can connect your WinSCP to a web server (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/ui_login)

Data exchange with WinSCP

If you choose the commander interface, a window will pop up after the log-in, which displays the local computer’s folder structure on the left and on the right, the remote directory on the web server.

Image: Data exchange with WinSCP
The interface for data exchange with WinSCP (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/ui_commander)

If you would like to load a file from one location into another, drag and drop the file in the intended position in the folder structure. The size and type of file play no role here. In­di­vidu­al files and entire folders can both be trans­ferred in this way. Before the data transfer starts, a transfer window will appear. If you do not want to make any changes to the standard setting, click ‘OK’ to confirm.

Image: Start Uploading in WinSCP
Before the data exchange, a window will open to allow to change the transfer settings (Source:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/ui_copy)

As well as uploading and down­load­ing files, WinSCP allows you to delete and move files on the web server. Prop­er­ties such as the file name and the access or group rights can also be cus­tom­ised via remote access. In addition, WinSCP offers the pos­sib­il­ity to edit text-based files directly on the server.

Edit files directly on the server

WinSCP has an in­teg­rated text editor spe­cific­ally for editing text-based files such as HTML, PHP, and CSS documents. To open a document, you just have to double click on the file icon. The editor’s functions cor­res­pond to those of the Windows Notepad. Both text input and standard commands such as ‘Cut’, ‘Copy’, and ‘Paste’ are supported, as well as a search tool and an undo function. These actions are carried out via the toolbar or standard Windows shortcuts.

Image: Edit files directly on the server
Edit your files directly in the WinSCP editor (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/ui_editor)

As well as the internal text editor, WinSCP also supports the in­teg­ra­tion of external editors such as Eclipse or Notepad++. These generally offer a larger spectrum of functions, for example syntax high­light­ing or auto-complete and auto-correct. To use an external editor, click ‘View’, followed by ‘Settings’, and then choose ‘Editors’ in the settings directory.

Image: WinSCP supports the integration of external editors such as Eclipse or Notepad++
WinSCP allows you to integrate external editors (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/ui_pref_editor)

If no al­tern­at­ive editors appear in the list, you can add them by clicking the ‘Add’ button.

Keep folders syn­chron­ised

Due to its extensive syn­chron­isa­tion functions, WinSCP is par­tic­u­larly popular amongst ad­min­is­trat­ors. The program auto­mat­ic­ally syncs two dir­ect­or­ies, transfers edited files and keeps data files up-to-date on the web server. If you would like to sync folders with local data sets on your server, find the cor­res­pond­ing dir­ect­or­ies (this works for the commander interface) and select ‘Commands’ and then ‘Syn­chron­ise’ in the main menu. A syn­chron­isa­tion window will pop up. If you’re using the Explorer interface, the local directory will now be selected.

Image: Keep folders synchronized
The syn­chron­iz­a­tion window offers you three different modes for handling files with the same name (Source: https://winscp.net/eng/docs/ui_syn­chron­ize)

With the syn­chron­isa­tion window, you can choose between three different modes for handling files with identical names in the source and in the target.

  • Sync files: in standard mode, two dir­ect­or­ies are syn­chron­ised by over­writ­ing older files in the target directory with newer files from the source directory
  • Mirror files: any file in the target directory that is different from the source directory will be over­writ­ten, even if it is newer  
  • Sync timestamps: this mode only updates the timestamps of the target files  

An automatic syn­chron­isa­tion can be con­figured by selecting ‘Commands’ and ‘Keep remote directory up-to-date’ on the main menu.

Go to Main Menu