SFTP on iPhone and iPad
SFTP is not FTP with encryption bolted on. It is a subsystem of SSH, running over the same connection and the same authentication you already use for the terminal. That has a practical consequence worth knowing up front: if you can SSH into a box, you can almost certainly SFTP into it with no additional server setup, no extra port, and no separate credentials. Here is how to browse, transfer, and edit remote files from a phone, and how to make a server folder available to every other app on the device.
Written by the GateShell team at Hefty Innovations
Step by step
- 1
Open the file browser on a connected server
Connect to a server and switch to the SFTP tab. You get a normal directory listing with breadcrumb navigation, starting in the home directory of the user you connected as. No additional configuration is needed, because SFTP runs over the connection that is already open and authenticated.
- 2
Download, upload, and watch the progress
Tap a file to download it, with progress shown for anything large enough to matter. Uploads come from the document picker, so anything reachable by the iOS file system, whether iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or another app's storage, can be pushed to the server. Transfers retry in the background rather than failing outright when the connection hiccups, which matters more on cellular than it does on a desk.
- 3
Edit a file in place instead of round-tripping it
For text files, opening them starts the built-in editor rather than a download: syntax highlighting for 13+ languages, find and replace, and save straight back over SFTP. This is the difference between fixing a config typo in thirty seconds and downloading, editing elsewhere, and uploading again, which on a phone is enough friction that people wait until they are at a laptop.
- 4
Handle the everyday operations
Rename, delete, create directories, and use the share sheet to send a downloaded file onward to another app. These are unremarkable individually, and collectively they are what stops you dropping to the terminal to run mv and rm with a path you have to type exactly.
- 5
Expose a folder to the Files app
On iPhone and iPad, a chosen server folder can appear as a location in the iOS Files app. Once it does, every app that can open a file can open files on your server: edit in your preferred text editor, attach a log to an email, open a PDF. It is folder-scoped rather than whole-filesystem, there is no sync folder, and nothing is copied to a third-party cloud. See the dedicated guide for setup.
- 6
Know when to use the terminal instead
A graphical browser is the wrong tool for some jobs and pretending otherwise wastes time. Moving ten thousand files, or anything needing a glob, is faster as a single mv or rsync in the terminal. Use the browser for finding, reading, and editing; use the shell for bulk operations. They are the same connection, so switching costs nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install an FTP server?+
No. SFTP is part of SSH, and OpenSSH ships with the SFTP subsystem enabled by default on essentially every Linux distribution. If SSH works, SFTP almost certainly works already. It is unrelated to FTP or FTPS, which are different protocols that would need their own server software.
Is SFTP the same as FTPS?+
No, and the similar names cause real confusion. SFTP runs inside an SSH connection on port 22. FTPS is the old FTP protocol wrapped in TLS, usually on different ports, with separate server software and firewall rules. SFTP is what you want here, and it is what you already have.
Can I edit files directly instead of downloading them?+
Yes. Text files open in the built-in editor with syntax highlighting and find/replace, and save back over the same connection. For editing in another app entirely, expose the folder to the Files app and open it from there.
What happens if a transfer is interrupted?+
Transfers retry in the background rather than failing at the first dropped packet. On a phone, moving between networks mid-transfer is normal rather than exceptional, so this is designed for rather than treated as an error case. For very large transfers, running rsync in the terminal inside tmux is still the more robust approach.
Is SFTP available on the free tier?+
SFTP is a Pro feature. The free tier covers the SSH terminal and one saved server, which is enough to evaluate whether the app suits your workflow before subscribing.
Try it in GateShell
GateShell is a zero-backend SSH client for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no vendor cloud, no accounts and no telemetry. Everything above works out of the box.
Guide reflects GateShell's shipped features as of September 2026. Steps assume basic familiarity with SSH and the command line; server-side commands may vary by distribution. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners.