How to Use SCP/SFTP to Upload or Download Files

What this is

SCP and SFTP are secure methods to transfer files over SSH.

What it is for

• Upload website files to your VPS
• Download backups/logs from your VPS
• Move configuration files safely

Prerequisites

• SSH access to the VPS
• Server IP, username, and SSH port (if custom)
• Local terminal (PowerShell/Terminal) on your computer

Step-by-step: SCP (command-line copy)

Upload a file to the server

scp localfile.txt USERNAME@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/USERNAME/

What it does: Copies a local file to the remote folder.

Expected output: A progress indicator and completion.

Download a file from the server

scp USERNAME@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf ./nginx.conf

Copy a folder (recursive)

scp -r ./myfolder USERNAME@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/USERNAME/

Warning: For large folders, consider rsync (faster/resumable).

Using a custom SSH port

scp -P 2222 localfile.txt USERNAME@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/USERNAME/

Note: SCP uses -P (uppercase) for port.

Using an SSH key file

scp -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 localfile.txt USERNAME@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/USERNAME/

Step-by-step: SFTP (interactive file transfer)

Start an SFTP session

sftp USERNAME@YOUR_SERVER_IP

Expected output: An sftp> prompt.

Common SFTP commands

pwd
lpwd
ls
lls
cd /var/www
lcd ~/Downloads
get remote.txt
put local.txt
bye

What they do: Remote vs local navigation, download (get), upload (put), exit.

Warnings & useful notes

• Be careful when uploading to system folders; you may need sudo to move files into place.
• For website deployments, upload to your home folder first, then move with sudo.

Final verification

On the server, confirm the file exists:

ls -la /home/USERNAME/

Conclusion

SCP is fast for quick copies; SFTP is great when you want an interactive session. Both are secure because they run over SSH.