Uploading and downloading

An upload copies files from your computer to the server; a download copies them the other way. This page covers the keyboard and menu routes. For the mouse, see Drag and drop.

Upload or download with the keyboard

In the Commander interface the two panels make this a two-step job:

1. In one panel, open the directory the files should go to.
2. In the other panel, select the files and press F5.

F5 uploads from the local panel and downloads from the remote one. F6 moves instead: the files are transferred, then deleted from where they came from.

The same commands are in the Files menu, under Upload or Download depending on the active panel:

• Upload… / Download…
• Upload in Background… / Download in Background… – add the transfer to the queue and keep working.
• Upload and Delete… / Download and Delete… – move the files.

In the Explorer interface there is no local panel. Use Download… to pick a local directory, and the clipboard or drag and drop to upload.

The copy dialog

Before the transfer starts, linscp shows a short dialog:

• The prompt names what you transfer, for example Upload ‘index.html’ to remote directory:.
• The target path is filled in with the other panel’s directory. Edit it to send the files somewhere else. End it with a file name to rename a single file, or with a mask like *.bak to rename several.
• Transfer settings shows a summary of the settings that will apply. Pick a preset from the list or click Transfer settings… to change them for this transfer only. See Transfer settings and presets.
• Transfer in background (add to transfer queue) sends the job to the queue.
• Do not show this dialog box again skips the dialog from now on. Turn it back on under Transferring of files in the confirmations on Options › Preferences › Environment.

The button next to OK generates a linscp-cli script or .NET code that does the same transfer, a quick way to start an automation script.

Use the clipboard

• To upload, copy files in your desktop’s file manager, switch to linscp, activate the remote panel and press Ctrl+V.
• To download, select remote files, press Ctrl+C, then paste into a local panel.

Copy between local panels

In a local tab both panels show your own disk. F5 and F6 become Copy… and Move… and work the same way, with no server involved.

What happens to existing files

If a file with the same name exists at the target, linscp asks what to do. See Progress and overwrite prompts. To transfer only what changed, tick New and updated files only in the transfer settings, or use synchronization.

Automating transfers

In scripts, the put and get commands upload and download. See scripting.