File Transfer Protocol

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a client-server protocol which allows a user on one computer to transfer files to and from another computer over a TCP/IP network, as defined by STD 9, in October 1985. The term also refers to client programs using the protocol to transfer files.

History
FTP was originally developed by at the  for. The first specification was published in April 1971 in.

Mac support
The Finder in Mac OS X and macOS provides read-only access to FTP servers. Uploading files would require a 3rd-party FTP utility, such as:


 * CloudMounter, a multiplatform cloud mounting utility for macOS, Linux, and Windows.
 * CyberDuck, a commercial libre server and cloud storage browser for macOS and Windows.
 * Fetch, an longtime FTP client for classic Mac OS, Mac OS X and macOS.
 * FileZilla, a free open source FTP client for all platforms and server for Windows.
 * Transmit, a trialware cloud browser and sync utility for macOS.

Deprecation
In 2020, Google and Mozilla announced that they were deprecating the FTP protocol in Chrome and Firefox, respectively, in favor of sFTP (based on SSH) due to security considerations.