Windows 7 and Built In FTP Site Browsing

By Richard Hay, on October 30th, 2009

If you want to browse your favorite FTP server and not have to download extra software then this post is for you.

In Windows 7 open up a Windows Explorer and type in the address to the FTP server your trying to get to. Provide the username and password if necessary – you can also select Anonymous Log in and Save Password at the bottom of that dialog box:

Once that data is entered and you press the Log On button you will see your FTP server as if it was part of your local drive:

You can click your way around the entire drive structure, perform all the same things you can do in Windows Explorer including drag and drop. Of course that will also depend on your settings and permissions on the server.

Now this is nothing new in Windows – the functionality was there in Windows Vista as well. However, I think Windows 7 does a much better job of advertising that functionality with this alert when you browse an FTP site in Internet Explorer:

So with that timely notice I headed to the Page menu in IE and way down at the bottom of that list is the entry to Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer.

If you click on this from an IE Windows where your currently browsing a FTP site the address will be carried over to the Log on As window (first one shown above).

Hope this proves handy to many of you who need this functionality for simple and easy access to FTP server files. If you have the right permissions you can even CHMOD files and add or delete directories and files from within Windows Explorer as well.

Richard Hay (3332 Posts)

Richard is the Owner of WindowsObserver.com and has been involved in tech for over 25 years. His first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then he used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and what you see here today is the result of the work he has continued on the site since 1995. In January 2010 his community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when he was awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for Windows Desktop Experience. In January 2011 he was renewed as a Microsoft MVP but in a new category called Windows Expert - Consumer and in January 2012 he received the award for the third time.

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