Documentation
Quick start
- Site Manager (F4) → New site: pick the protocol (SFTP recommended), enter server, user, password or key file. Connect.
- Left pane is local, right pane is remote. Transfer by drag & drop, F6 (transfer to the other side) or the middle arrows. Transfers appear in the Queue tab, which also handles resume, retry and conflict decisions.
- The Connection wizard (File menu) walks you through a new site step by step and tests it; S3/WebDAV provider presets live there.
On first connection you are asked to confirm the SSH fingerprint or TLS certificate — verify it with your server administrator.
Protocols and settings
| Protocol | Notes |
|---|---|
| FTP / FTPS | Passive mode recommended; FTPS "explicit TLS" (port 21) or "implicit" (990). Optional MODE Z compression. |
| SFTP | Password or OpenSSH key (not .ppk; export from PuTTY as "OpenSSH key"). Generate a key: Site → Key file → Generate… |
| WebDAV | Nextcloud/ownCloud (/remote.php/dav/files/USER/), SharePoint/IIS ("use LOCK" option), Apache mod_dav. |
| HTTP/HTTPS | Read-only directory browsing (nginx autoindex, Apache, python http.server). |
| S3 | Access key = user name, secret key = password. Region and bucket are stored on the site; IP endpoints use "path style". Wizard presets for Amazon, Wasabi, B2, R2, Spaces, MinIO, Google Cloud (HMAC), Oracle. |
| Azure Blob | Storage account = user name; password = account key or SAS (sv=…&sig=…). Container optional. |
Proxy: Options → Connection → Proxy (SOCKS4/4a/5, HTTP CONNECT, Windows system setting, FTP user@host). Can be bypassed per site.
Hosting panels
Site Manager → Import → from panel: cPanel/WHM (API token), Plesk (API key), DirectAdmin (login key), Hestia (API). For CloudPanel, CyberPanel, aaPanel, Virtualmin and ISPConfig a one-line ciciFTP agent is installed on the server (its checksum is verified); the agent runs only site-listing and access-grant commands through a restricted SSH key.
Sync and automation
- Sync folders (Ctrl+Shift+S): direction, changed-only, mirror (deletion-protected — never deletes after an incomplete scan), checksum comparison.
- Scheduled tasks: with Windows Task Scheduler,
ciciFTP.exe --run-task "name" --exit-when-done. - Scripts (Ctrl+Shift+B):
site,cd,lcd,put,get,mput,mget,sync,delete,rename,chmod,pgpencrypt,foreach site,if exists… No shell commands (by design). - Macro recording: what you do is saved as a script.
- Watch a local folder: saved files upload automatically.
Editor
Double-click a remote file to open it in the built-in editor (syntax highlighting, find/replace, snippets); saving uploads it. An external editor (Notepad++, VS Code) can be set in Options → Editor.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F4 | Site Manager |
| Ctrl+Q | Quick connect · Ctrl+D disconnect |
| F5 | Refresh · F6 transfer · F2 rename · Del delete |
| Ctrl+F | Find files on server · Ctrl+M select by mask |
| Ctrl+K | Compare panes · Ctrl+B site list · Ctrl+L bottom pane |
| F1 | All shortcuts |
Portable mode and data folder
Settings live under %APPDATA%\ciciFTP (settings.json, sites.json, keys\, logs\). ciciFTP.exe --data-dir "D:\ciciFTP-data" moves everything to a USB stick. Backup: Options → General → Back up settings (passwords stay encrypted; a master password is needed on another PC).
Troubleshooting
- Listing works, transfers don't (FTP): passive mode + a passive port range in the server firewall; on FTPS servers that require TLS session reuse try "explicit TLS".
- Certificate rejected: the server certificate is invalid/self-signed; get the fingerprint from the administrator and choose "Always trust".
- Broken accented characters: Site → Advanced → Character encoding (UTF-8 / windows-1254 …).
- The Log tab shows every command and response; include those lines in bug reports (passwords are already masked).