How to Use Safari to Access an FTP Site

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Access an FTP site using the Safari Web browser.

Apple installs its free Safari Web browser on every Mac, and you can download the free Windows version from Apple's website. When people need to provide files over the Internet, they may put them in an FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, site so other people can access them using an FTP program or a Web browser such as Safari. For example, a company may put older versions of its software on an FTP site so people can download them if they can't use the latest version, or provide product instruction manuals for people to access.

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Step 1

Launch Safari.

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Step 2

Type the address for an FTP site in the address bar -- the address has the form of "ftp://username.domain" -- then press the "Enter" key.

Step 3

Type your username and password if you are visiting an FTP site where you have an account. Otherwise, type "user" and "anonymous" if you are connecting to a public-access FTP server. The files then appear in the Safari window.

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Step 4

Right-click on a file link and click "Download Linked File" to save it to your computer.

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