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Enable SFTP & SSH

Secure Shell (SSH) creates a secure connection when you log in to a remote computer and allows Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), which uses SSH to provide a safe way to transfer files between computers. InstaWP allows you to access your site's file system or run commands using SFTP & SSH.

In this documentation, we will explore the steps to:

Enable SFTP
Enable SSH

Let’s get started 🚀

This feature is available in Personal Yearly and above paid plans only. View Pricing here. If you are not logged in, use this link to view pricing.

How to Enable SFTP & SSH

Go to the Sites page, click on the horizontal ellipsis button, and select the SFTP/SSH option.

Enable SFTP

Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a secure FTP method of transferring data (to and from) your website with the following connection details:

Inputs	Description
Host Name	Host name of the WordPress site.
User Name	Username to access the WordPress site.
Password	Password to access the WordPress site.
Port	The port number (SFTP) uniquely identifies a connection endpoint used by web servers to receive requests from clients.

Enable SSH

SSH, or Secure Shell, allows you to utilise a terminal application to access the backend of your website and manage specific site files and settings. It also grants access to WP-CLI, which may be used to swiftly make site modifications and debug problems.

You will see the same connection details (as after enabling SFTP). Further, if you want password-less login access for your website you must add a new SSH key. For more information, you can refer to the Add & Use SSH Keys documentation.

💡 Did you know - You could create a new SFTP/SSH user and utilize the connection to establish a single sign-on for your InstaWP live hosted site without any login credentials of that user. Learn about Manage hosting.

Updated on: 30/07/2025

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