How to Download Website Files Faster Using FTP

Downloading a website through FTP can take hours, even when the site is only a few gigabytes. The problem is often not your internet speed.

Websites, especially WordPress sites, can contain thousands of small files. Your FTP client has to process each one individually.

A much faster approach is to compress the website files on the server first, then download the archive as a single file.

1. Compress Your Website Files

Open your hosting control panel and go to File Manager.

Common locations include:

Find your website folder. For WordPress, this is often public_html or a folder inside it.

Select the folder and choose Compress, Archive, or the equivalent option provided by your host.

Create a ZIP or TAR.GZ file, such as:

website-backup.zip

Instead of downloading thousands of individual files, you now have one archive to transfer.

2. Download the Archive Using FTP or SFTP

Connect to your hosting account using an FTP client such as:

You will normally need your hostname, username, password and port.

If your host supports SFTP, use it instead of standard FTP because the connection is encrypted.

Locate the archive you created and download it to your computer. Once the download is complete, extract it locally.

Why Is This Faster?

FTP has overhead for every file it transfers.

A WordPress installation containing 50,000 files requires thousands of individual file operations.

Compressing the site changes the process to:

50,000 files → 1 archive → 1 download

This can significantly reduce transfer time, especially for sites with many plugins, themes, cached files and media.

Don't Forget the WordPress Database

If you are downloading a WordPress website for backup or migration, the website files alone are not enough. You should also export its MySQL or MariaDB database.

First, open your site's wp-config.php file and find:

define( 'DB_NAME', 'your_database_name' );

The value of DB_NAME tells you which database belongs to that WordPress installation.

Open phpMyAdmin from your hosting control panel, select that database and choose Export.

For a standard backup:

  1. Select Quick as the export method.
  2. Select SQL as the format.
  3. Click Export or Go.

Your browser should download a file similar to:

database.sql

Your backup should now contain:

wordpress-backup/
├── website-files.zip
└── database.sql

These two files contain the core components needed for a manual WordPress backup or migration.

Important: If your hosting account contains multiple databases, don't export all of them. Export the specific database identified by DB_NAME in that website's wp-config.php.

Quick Tip

Before downloading a large website through FTP, check whether your hosting provider lets you compress the website folder first.

Spending a few minutes creating an archive on the server can save a significant amount of transfer time.