File Encryption for FTP & Cloud
Encrypt files with AES-256 on your own machine before they upload - so your FTP server, NAS or cloud only ever stores ciphertext, and the key never leaves your device.
File Encryption ships to FTPie Pro at the end of June 2026, alongside Scheduled Transfers and the CLI. Buy Pro now and it unlocks automatically the moment it lands - at no extra cost.
When you upload a file to an FTP server, a NAS, or a cloud account, you are trusting whoever runs that storage with the readable contents of your data. For most files that is fine. For tax documents, contracts, password vaults, client data or anything covered by a privacy obligation, it is not.
File Encryption closes that gap. FTPie encrypts the file on your machine, with AES-256, before a single byte leaves your computer. Whatever it lands on - a shared FTP host, a Synology NAS, Google Drive, Dropbox - only ever stores ciphertext. The encryption key stays on your device. Neither the storage provider nor FTPie can read your files.
How it works
FTPie encrypts the file in memory on your PC using AES-256 and your password-derived key.
Only the encrypted version travels to the destination. The plaintext never touches the network.
Right-click a .ftpie file and choose Decrypt. With the correct password, FTPie verifies and restores the original locally.
The key never leaves your device
This is the part that matters. FTPie is a local Windows application, not a cloud service that proxies your transfers. The key you use for encryption is derived and held on your own machine. There is no FTPie-operated server in the middle that ever sees your password or your plaintext.
That is the honest trade-off of real client-side encryption: because we genuinely cannot read your files, we also cannot recover them. Keep your password somewhere safe. There is no back door - for you, for us, or for anyone who compromises the storage.
Works with every backend
Most encryption tools are tied to one ecosystem - a single cloud's "vault", or a NAS app that only protects files on that NAS. FTPie's encryption sits in the transfer layer, so it applies the same way no matter where the file is going:
- FTP & FTPS - add real content encryption on top of (or instead of) transport security
- SFTP - encrypt at rest on the server, not just in transit
- Self-hosted - Nextcloud, ownCloud and SeaFile via dedicated connectors
- WebDAV - any standards-compliant WebDAV server
- NAS - Synology, QNAP and other network storage over SMB
- Cloud - Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, pCloud, MEGA
Purpose-built file encryption
This is real encryption built for confidentiality, not password-protection bolted onto a zip. It applies to everyday transfers: any file or folder you upload or move. Folders are encrypted file by file with their structure preserved - nothing is packed into an archive. Each file is sealed in FTPie's own .ftpie format with AES-256, the same symmetric cipher trusted by governments and banks, and every chunk carries an HMAC-SHA256 authentication tag so any tampering or corruption is caught when you decrypt. The security comes from keeping the key off the wire, which is exactly what client-side encryption does.
Common questions
AES-256 in CBC mode, with an HMAC-SHA256 authentication tag on every chunk (encrypt-then-MAC). Your key is derived from your password on your machine with PBKDF2-SHA256 at 200,000 iterations.
On your Windows device. It is never uploaded, and FTPie operates no server that could intercept it. See the security page for how FTPie handles credentials and data.
No. There is no recovery path by design - that is what makes the encryption trustworthy. Store your password safely.
No. Encrypted files use FTPie's documented .ftpie format, and a free standalone decryptor ships alongside the feature - so you can always recover your files with your password, even on a machine that does not have FTPie installed.
Yes. Encryption happens before upload, so the destination protocol does not matter - FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, NAS or any supported cloud.
File Encryption is part of FTPie Pro, arriving end of June 2026. See the plan comparison.
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