How to upload and download files to and from your VPS

Uploading your game server files, a database or a website is one of the first things you will do. The easiest way depends on the system.

Windows VPS

Copy and paste (small files)

With Windows remote desktop you can copy a file on your PC and paste it inside the VPS with Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V, as between two folders. It works well for scripts, configs and files of a few hundred MB.

Share a drive from your PC (the most reliable)

Open Remote Desktop Connection and click Show Options.
Local Resources tab → More... → tick the drive or folder from your PC.
Connect. On the VPS, open File Explorer: your drive appears under This PC as "C on YOUR-PC". Drag from there.

Files of several GB

They are slow over remote desktop. It is faster to upload them to the cloud (Google Drive, Mega, WeTransfer...) and download them from the VPS's own browser, which is much faster than your home connection.

Linux VPS: SFTP

Nothing to install on the server: SFTP runs over the same SSH you already use.

Download WinSCP (Windows) or FileZilla (Windows, Mac or Linux).
Create a new connection with:
- Protocol: SFTP (not FTP)
- Host: your VPS's IP
- Port: 22
- User: root and your password (or your SSH key)
Connect: your PC on one side, the server on the other. Drag the files.

From a terminal (Windows 10/11, Mac or Linux) you can also copy with scp:

# Upload a file to the VPS's /root folder
scp server.zip root@203.0.113.10:/root/

# Download a whole folder
scp -r root@203.0.113.10:/root/backups ./

Download straight onto the server

If the file is on the internet, the fastest way is to let the VPS fetch it:

# Linux
wget https://example.com/file.zip

# Windows (PowerShell)
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://example.com/file.zip" -OutFile "C:\downloads\file.zip"

Changed the SSH port or have the firewall on? Use your port instead of 22.