This article guides you through the basics of sharing files stored on your Synology NAS via FTP and its encrypted variants.

1. Prerequisites
2. Setting up FTP services
• 2.1 Enabling FTP services
• 2.2 Advanced settings
• 2.3 Allow users to access shared folders via FTP
• 2.4 Allow anonymous users to access shared folders via FTP
3. Accessing Files via FTP clients

1. Prerequisites

Make sure that you have set up your Synology NAS and installed DSM.¹ Your Synology NAS should also be accessible over the Internet.²

2. Setting up FTP services ³

This section explains how to configure basic FTP services, as well as allow registered or anonymous users to access specific shared folders via FTP.

2.1 Enabling FTP services

1. Go to Control Panel > External Access > Router Configuration to ensure the following TCP ports of your router are being forwarded to the Synology NAS: 21 (default control connection), 20 (data connection for active mode), and 1025-65535 (data connection for passive mode).^{4 5}
2. Sign in to your Synology NAS with an account belonging to the administrators group and go to Control Panel > File Services > FTP.
3. Select one of the following options and specify relevant settings:
• Enable FTP service (No encryption):⁶ FTP provides faster transfer speeds and requires less system resources.
• Enable FTP SSL/TLS encryption service (FTPS):⁷ FTPS provides slower transfer speeds and consumes more CPU resources due to encryption.
• Enable SFTP service:⁸ SFTP provides slower transfer speeds and consumes more CPU resources due to encryption.
4. Click Apply to save the settings.

2.2 Advanced settings

You can manage file transfer logs, enable anonymous users to access shared folders, or change users' root home for FTP transfer in Control Panel > File Services > FTP, and click Advanced Settings.

2.3 Allow users to access shared folders via FTP

If one of the users on your Synology NAS cannot access a certain shared folder via FTP, check that the user has the proper read/write permissions for that shared folder. Follow these steps to edit a user's read/write permissions:

1. Sign in to your Synology NAS with an account belonging to the administrators group and go to Control Panel > User & Group (for DSM 7.0 and above) or User (for DSM 6.2 and earlier).
2. Select the user you wish to modify, click Edit, and go to the Permissions tab.
3. Tick the appropriate checkboxes to assign read/write permissions for this user.
4. Go to the Applications tab and check that the Allow checkbox for FTP has been ticked.
5. Save the settings. The user will now have access to the specified shared folder via FTP with their username and password.

2.4 Allow anonymous users to access shared folders via FTP⁹

You may change the settings of a shared folder to allow anonymous FTP access, allowing users to access specified shared folders without entering their username and password. Follow these steps to enable anonymous FTP access:

1. Sign in to your Synology NAS with an account belonging to the administrators group and go to Control Panel > Shared Folder.
2. Select the shared folder you wish to modify, click Edit, and go to the Permissions tab.
3. Select System internal user from the drop-down menu.
4. Tick the appropriate checkboxes to assign read/write for the Anonymous FTP/WebDAV user.
5. Click OK to save settings.
6. Now go to Control Panel > File Services > FTP.
7. Click Advanced Settings.
8. Tick Enable Anonymous FTP and save the settings. The user will now have access to the specified shared folder via FTP without entering their username and password.

3. Accessing Files via FTP clients

1. Open your preferred FTP client (such as FileZilla).
2. Enter the IP address or DDNS hostname of your Synology NAS in the Host field.
   • To connect via SFTP in FileZilla, type sftp:// before the host address (e.g., sftp://192.168.24.123). If no FTP protocol is specified, FileZilla will attempt to connect via FTPS and FTP.
3. Enter your Synology NAS username and password. The user account you enter must have access privileges for the folder you wish to access.
4. Enter the port number your Synology NAS uses for FTP services.
   • If no port number is specified, FileZilla will use port 21 for FTP/FTPS and port 22 for SFTP.
5. Click Connect (Quickconnect if you're using FileZilla).
6. Once signed in, you should see the shared folders on your Synology NAS.