What protocol securely transfers files through the Secure Shell connection?

The SSH File Transfer Protocol securely transfers files through a Secure Shell connection.

Usually abbreviated SFTP, the protocol provides file access, transfer, and management capabilities over the encrypted SSH transport. It can upload, download, rename, delete, and manage permissions on remote files while protecting the session from ordinary network interception.

SFTP is commonly confused with FTPS. FTPS is ordinary FTP protected with Transport Layer Security, whereas SFTP is a separate protocol designed to operate over SSH. The two names sound similar but use different technologies and connection models.

SFTP is also not the same as the original SCP protocol. SCP is focused mainly on copying files, while SFTP offers a richer interactive file-management feature set. In practice, administrators often use SFTP for securely moving backups, configuration files, software packages, and other data between computers.