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Whether you're uploading a website, downloading a backup, or syncing an entire directory, SSH provides three reliable ways to move files to and from your VPS: scp, sftp, and rsync. This guide covers when to use each.

Prerequisites

• SSH access to your VPS
• An SSH client on your local machine (built into Windows/macOS/Linux)

Method 1 — SCP (Simple Copy, Best for One-Off Transfers)

Upload a single file to the VPS:

scp file.txt deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/deploy/

Download a file from the VPS:

scp deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/deploy/backup.sql .

Copy an entire directory recursively:

scp -r ./site deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/var/www/

Specify a custom SSH port:

scp -P 2222 file.txt deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/deploy/

Method 2 — SFTP (Interactive, Browsing-Friendly)

sftp deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP

Common SFTP commands once connected:

ls          # list remote files
lls         # list local files
cd path     # change remote directory
lcd path    # change local directory
put file    # upload a file
get file    # download a file
put -r dir  # upload a directory
exit        # close the session

For a graphical experience, SFTP is also supported by FileZilla, WinSCP, and most modern code editors (VS Code Remote-SSH extension).

Method 3 — rsync (Best for Syncing & Large/Repeated Transfers)

Unlike scp, rsync only transfers what has changed — making it far faster for repeated syncs or large directories.

rsync -avz --progress ./site/ deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/var/www/site/

-a preserves permissions and timestamps, -v is verbose, -z compresses during transfer.

Download from VPS to local:

rsync -avz deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/var/www/site/ ./local-copy/

Mirror exactly, deleting local files that no longer exist remotely (use with caution):

rsync -avz --delete deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/var/www/site/ ./local-copy/

Using a custom SSH port with rsync:

rsync -avz -e "ssh -p 2222" ./site/ deploy@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/var/www/site/

Which Method Should You Use?

Common Errors

Permission denied — verify the destination directory is writable by your user, or use sudo-aware paths carefully (SCP/rsync run as the connecting user, not root, by default).

Connection refused — confirm the SSH port matches (use -P for scp, -p inside the -e flag for rsync).

Best Practices

• Use rsync for anything beyond a single small file
• Never disable strict host key checking permanently just to silence a warning — verify the fingerprint first
• Use SSH keys, not passwords, for automated/scripted transfers

FAQ

Is SFTP the same as FTP?
No — SFTP runs entirely over the encrypted SSH protocol, while plain FTP is unencrypted and not recommended for transferring credentials or sensitive data.

Continue Reading

• How to Connect to Your VPS via SSH (Windows, macOS & Linux)
• How to Set Up Automated VPS Backups (rsync, cron & Off-Site Storage)
• How to Create a New User with Sudo Access on a Linux VPS

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