Plain FTP sends your password and files in clear text. SFTP encrypts everything over SSH. This guide sets up a real SFTP server on a Windows PC in minutes, then adds the few safety steps that turn a quick install into a safe one.
The video route is deliberately fast. You download the SFTP Manager file from the video description, run it as administrator, press 1 to install, then press 2 to create a user. Under the hood the script is not magic - it installs Microsoft's own OpenSSH Server on Windows, starts the sshd service, opens the firewall and creates the login for you. Here is that whole flow explained properly, plus the checks and hardening that should follow the fast install.
SFTP Manager is an automation wrapper around the standard Microsoft components. When you press 1, it adds the OpenSSH Server optional feature, sets the sshd service running, and allows inbound TCP port 22 in Windows Firewall. When you press 2, it creates a normal Windows user account and points it at a folder - either a custom folder you type in or the default one. Everything it installs is the same OpenSSH that Windows ships and supports, which is exactly why this route is trustworthy.
If you ever want to do the same install by hand in PowerShell as administrator, the core command is Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0 followed by Start-Service sshd and Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType Automatic.
ipconfig and read the IPv4 Address lineThat is the complete install. The server is now listening. Before you share the login with anyone, do the test in the next section yourself.
From a second PC on the same network, open Command Prompt or PowerShell and connect with the built-in client:
sftp [email protected]
Replace the username and IP with your own. The first connection shows the server's host key fingerprint and asks whether you want to continue - type yes. Then enter the password. If you land at an sftp> prompt, the server works. Try put test.txt to upload a small file and ls to list what is in the folder. A graphical client like FileZilla or WinSCP works just as well - set the protocol to SFTP and the port to 22.
The install is quick; a safe setup takes a few minutes more. Work through this short list:
The claim is fair about the install itself - the automated part genuinely finishes in under a minute, and the video shows it happening. What the timer does not include is choosing a proper password, testing the login from another device, and the hardening list above. Budget ten minutes total and you will have a server that is both fast to build and safe to keep. A plain FTP server can be built just as fast, but it sends passwords and files unencrypted - that is the whole reason SFTP exists.
See the complete SFTP server setup on screen, step by step, in the Technical Anshu video.
Watch Full VideoYes for the installation itself. The SFTP Manager script automates the OpenSSH Server install, service start, firewall rule and user creation, and the install step finishes in about 20 to 30 seconds. Testing the login and basic hardening take a few extra minutes.
It installs Microsoft's built-in OpenSSH Server feature on Windows, starts the sshd service, opens TCP port 22 in the firewall and creates the SFTP user account with its folder. It is an automation wrapper, not a separate third-party server program.
Yes. Plain FTP sends usernames, passwords and file data in clear text that anyone on the path can read. SFTP runs over SSH, so the login and the transfer are encrypted end to end, which is why banking and office environments insist on it.