How to easily access FTP servers with FileZilla

Although somewhat overshadowed by BitTorrent nowadays, FTP is still a good medium to distribute large files such as movies and games online. When it comes to downloading from FTP servers, FileZilla is one of the most widely used clients. For some reason, many people are unaware of the simplicity of FileZilla and the vast amount of ‘content’ (you know what we mean) that can be obtained through it. In this post, we explain where to download this software and how to use it to access open and password protected FTP servers.

filezilla

Where to download the latest version FileZilla?

FileZilla is free software and it supports Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It’s only about 4MB in file size. You can download the latest available stable version of FileZilla directly from the official download page.

How to access normal and password protected FTP servers using FileZilla?

This is easy. A non password protected FTP server address follows a similar format to the ones mentioned below:
ftp://server:port/ or sometimes ftp://server

Sometimes, usernames and passwords to access the server can be embedded in the FTP server address. In this case the URL will follow a similar format to ftp://user:password@server:port
For example, ftp://leech:l33ch@61.145.123.141:5632/
This can be broken down as

  • Username = leech
  • Password = l33ch
  • Server = 61.145.123.141
  • Port = 5632

To access the FTP server using FileZilla, all you have to do is to paste the entire URL in the ‘Host"’ field below the menu bar. If the username and password details are embedded in the address as above, FileZilla will automatically fill the rest of the fields and connect you to the server. If the server requires login and the username and password are not included in the URL, you need to enter them manually in username, password fields below the menu bar. Once you are connected to the server, you can browse through it’s content just like in Windows explorer. To download a file, simply double click it.

P.S – The FTP link ftp://leech:l33ch@61.145.123.141:5632/ is real. Just connect to it and browse the contents – you’ll be surprised (and maybe pleased :D )