Getting started with WinSCP
WinSCP is a program that you can use to upload files from your computer to your New Paltz web space.
Creating a Profile in WinSCP
In any Windows lab on campus, click on the WinSCP icon that you’ll find in the “Start” menu.
If you are not in a lab on campus you also have the option to download the client to your own PC from the WinSCP site. To install WinSCP, just double-click on the downloaded installer and accept all of the defaults; continue clicking “next” until you reach “Finish.”
Initial WinSCP Set-up
The first time you run WinSCP, you will see a window like this:
Enter the following details, as shown above:
- Host name: shell.newpaltz.edu
- Port number: 22
- User name: Your NPCUID
- Password: Your password
- Protocol: SFTP (allow SCP fallback)
Click the “Save…” button; this will display the above window again. To continue, click “Login.”
Next, you will see a window like this:
The left side of this window shows the files on your local PC; the right side of this window shows the files in the home directory of your shell account.
To begin uploading files to your web space, you must first click on the “public_html” folder on the right side of the screen (see circled folder above).
Transferring Files: Uploading and Downloading
Find the files you wish to upload in the left window (i.e. on your local PC – this means you need to know where you saved your files!)
To copy files between your local Windows computer and the server, click on the file that you want to copy and drag it to the right side (server side). A pop-up window will appear; click “Copy” to have the file copied to the server (alternatively, you can highlight the file and either right click and select copy OR select Copy (F5) from the tool bar at the bottom of the WinSCP window). For example, if you want to upload a webpage, drag the webpage files from the left side of the window to the right side of the window.
To add multiple files at once, you can hold down the control button on your keyboard (“Ctrl”) and then click on the desired files. Then drag to the right as described in the directions above.
To copy your web site to a flash drive or other location, copy the public_html directory to your flash drive or a prepared directory on your C: drive or to the desktop of your MAC. In a lab, be sure to transfer to your own drive!
Getting Help With WinSCP
Here is where you can find with WinSCP:
- See the “Help” menu in the WinSCP program.
- Read the FAQ and ask questions at the WinSCP forum.
- Contact the Academic Computing Help Desk.



