How to Restore FTP Functionality in Firefox and Chrome

Last update: 04/10/2024
Author Javier Chirinos
FTP functionality

Mozilla Firefox was the last major browser to remove the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). This is just the latest development after Microsoft and Google do the same with Edge and Chrome respectively.

While this action can be said to be good for end-user security, there are still many users who rely on FTP. Fortunately for them, there are ways to get this functionality back in both Chrome and Firefox. For this reason, within this guide we are going to tell you how to do it. restore FTP functionality in Chrome and Firefox.

Why did Google, Microsoft and Mozilla end FTP support?

Looking at the problem from a broad perspective, there are two main reasons why all major browsers are now moving away from the FTP (File Transfer Protocol):

  • The biggest issue argued by Google, Mozilla and Microsoft is that the File Transfer Protocol does not support encrypted connections. Getting rid of it will hopefully make the World Wide Web a safer environment for users.
  • The second reason these tech giants are so quick to ditch the protocol is its usage. A Google report claims that only 0,1% of all Chrome users use FTP, so companies are struggling to justify the spending resources required to integrate secure FTP functionality into the browser.

How to restore FTP functionality in Firefox and Chrome

The throttling of your FTP protocol happened over the course of a few months, and now both Google and Mozilla have removed final FTP capabilities from Chrome and Firefox browsers.

But luckily for those who still rely on FTP (e.g. those running Oracle/ERP), there are still ways to enable FTP in Firefox and Chrome, but the settings are hidden in the secondary settings and flags.

Depending on the browser you are attempting to use FTP on, follow one of the sub-guides below to successfully restore FTP functionality again.

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Important: Both methods work at the time of writing, but this is likely to change as Mozilla and Google move to further restrict the File Transfer Protocol. If you have trouble enforcing any of these methods when you read this article, please let us know in the comments section at the end of our post.

How to restore FTP functionality in Firefox

The FTP code is not being removed from Firefox as of now, so users will still be able to change this FTP exclusion preference and restore File Transfer Protocol support in Firefox 88 and Firefox 89.

Nota: Please note that Mozilla has already removed FTP support entirely as of build 90. If you are already on build 90 or higher, you will need to downgrade and install an older version in order to follow the instructions below.

  • Open your Firefox browser and type "About: config" within the navigation bar. Press Log in to access hidden Firefox settings.
  • In the message Proceed with caution, click the OK button the risk and continue to access the hidden settings menu.

  • Once you are finally inside the menu Advanced preferences, use the search bar at the top to search 'network.ftp.enabled'.
  • Next, in the list of results, change the value of network.ftp.enabled to True to re-enable the FTP protocol.

  • Once the change has been applied, restart your browser to be able to use the File Transfer Protocol again.

How to restore FTP functionality in Chrome

Starting with Chrome build 81, FTP support is disabled by default. From now on, the only way to get basic File Transfer Protocol functionality on your Chrome browser is to use FTP. Google Chrome is to modify the indicator enable-ftp to  enable FTP URL support.

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But remember, this will only work as long as you're using a version of Chrome that's older than build 82. If you're already on a newer version, you'll need to downgrade to follow the instructions below.

Follow these steps to restore FTP functionality on Google Chrome:

  • Open Google Chrome and type the following command into the address bar at the top of the window: chrome: // flags
  • Once you are inside the area of Flags, writes 'enable-ftp' inside the search bar (search flags).

  • In the list of results, locate the indicator called Enable FTP URL support and change it to Able from Predetermined to re-enable FTP functionality.
  • Restart your Chrome browser to allow the changes to take effect. You should now have a Chrome browser that supports FTP.

What to do if enabling FTP in Chrome and Firefox is no longer an option

Truth be told, FTP support in the browsers we've come to widely adopt has always been a challenge. A lot of key features were missing, as browsers only supported the standard FTP protocol, which isn't encrypted over secure protocols like FTPS.

If you are interested in using the File Transfer Protocol or rely on it, FTP programs will always be the better choice. Sure, you will lose the convenience of browsing FTP resources directly from your browser, but in exchange, you will gain more reliability and you will be able to sleep well knowing that you are not vulnerable to any security attacks while using FTP.

I hope this guide helped you restore FTP functionality without any further problems. Don't forget to share your opinion with us in our comments section. If you liked it, don't hesitate to share it with the rest of your friends. See you in a future post.