FTP and SFTP accounts

For uploading files to your hosting account directly from a client like FileZilla, Cyberduck, or Transmit, you'll use FTP or SFTP. Both work; SFTP is more secure and we recommend it.

Connect with your default account

Every hosting account has a primary FTP/SFTP login that uses your hosting account's username and password.

Connection details:

• Host: your hosting's domain (or your-server.flashcloud.com if your domain isn't pointed yet).
• Port: 21 for FTP, 22 for SFTP.
• Username: your cPanel username (shown on your service detail page).
• Password: your cPanel password (see Changing your hosting account password if you need to set one).

Use SFTP unless you have a specific reason not to — FTP transmits passwords in plain text; SFTP is encrypted.

Create additional FTP accounts

If you want to give a developer or designer limited access without sharing your main credentials, create a scoped FTP account.

1. Go to Services → click hosting → FTP tile.
2. Click Create FTP account.
3. Set:
   • Username — will be username@yourdomain.com (the @ part is automatic).
   • Password — strong, please.
   • Directory — restrict to a specific folder (e.g., /public_html/blog/) so the account can only see files there.
   • Quota — optional file size cap.
4. Save.

The new account works immediately. Connection details are the same as the main account, but you log in with the new username.

SFTP vs FTP

Use SFTP. The negligible performance difference doesn't justify FTP's plain-text auth.

Common issues

• "Connection refused" / port 21 timeout — your network may block outgoing FTP. Try SFTP on port 22 instead, or check your firewall.
• "Authentication failed" — wrong password. If you recently changed it, your FTP client may have the old one cached.
• "Permission denied" when uploading — the destination directory's permissions may be wrong. See File permissions. Or your FTP account is restricted to a different directory.
• Files upload but the website doesn't update — check you're uploading to /public_html/ (or the correct subdirectory), not your home directory.

Removing FTP accounts

Same tile, click the trash icon. Connections drop immediately; pending transfers fail. The files in the account's folder aren't deleted — only the account credentials.

Power-user note

For automated deploys (CI pipelines, sync scripts), prefer SSH key authentication over password. Generate a keypair, paste the public key into your hosting account's SSH/FTP key settings (in cPanel's "SSH Access" tool), and connect with the private key. No password, no rotation, no typed credentials in CI logs.