Troubleshooting FileZilla FTP Connection Errors

If you have problems connecting to your FTP account using FileZilla, check out the information below to help you solve the problem.

Response: 530 Login authentication failed

Response: 530 Login authentication failed

Error: Critical error

Error:  Could not connect to server

If you see this error message when trying to connect it means that you entered an incorrect username/password or host. If you don’t remember your login details, please follow the steps in this tutorial to reset it.

Your domain name must point to your hosting account. This happens by pointing your domain name’s DNS A record to your hosting account’s IP address.

Response: 421 Sorry, cleartext sessions are not accepted on this server

Response:    421 Sorry, cleartext sessions are not accepted on this server.

Error:    Could not connect to server

If you see this message, please check and make sure that FileZilla is set to use the following details:

Protocol: FTP protocol

Encryption: Require FTP over explicit TLS/SSL

LogonType : Normal

Filezilla timeout after 20 seconds of inactivity

1. Open Site manager
2. Click on ‘New site’ button
3. You need to change the Encryption to ‘Only use plain FTP (insecure)’ and Logon type to Normal
4. Enter host address, user name, and password and click ‘Connect’

Response: 500 unrecognized command

Response: 500 unrecognized command

Error:  Could not connect to server

This error can be caused by an incorrect port setting, please make sure you are using the correct port 21.

Response: 331 User savsuq2b1 OK. Password required

Error: Connetion timed out

Error: Could not connect to server

If you see this error you’ll first need to make sure that you’re using the correct login information. If they are all correct, you’ll need to check for Firewalls or Antivirus installed on your computer, try disabling them and test the connection again.

Response: Connection timed out (Failed to retrieve directory listing)

Error: Connection timed out after 10 seconds of inactivity

Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing

There could be a Firewalls or Antivirus problem, which might be blocking the transfer, try disabling them and test the connection again.

By default, FileZilla is defined to close the transfer of files if the file transfer takes more than a fixed amount of time, so if the disabling the Firewall doesn’t fix the problem you should try disabling the timeout settings.To disable the timeout select Edit -> Settings -> Connections -> Change Timeout to a higher value.

Connection attempt failed with EAI_NONAME

Full error: Connection attempt failed with ‘EAI_NONAME ‘ Neither nodename nor servname provided, or not known.

If you see this error, this means that the issue is related to Name resolution error. The ‘Host’ you are using is not correct, or your domain may not be pointed to our DNS. Check for spelling mistakes or try using the server’s IP address.