Author: Martin

How To Backup WinSCP Sessions

WinSCP is a very flexible SFTP and SCP client for the Windows operating system. One of its features is the option to save IPs, usernames and passwords so that they do not have to be entered before connecting to the server in question. Server administrators who are using stored sessions and want to use WinSCP on another computer system can backup and restore WinSCP sessions which is usually a much smoother process than to add the servers manually on the other computer system.

WinSCP comes with the tools to backup the session data. The setting is hidden in the preferences of the scp client.

Server administrators need to check the Advanced options box in the lower left corner of the application to reveal addition options that include backups. Preferences will appear in the list of options after enabling the checkbox.

winscp backup

Selecting preferences in that menu and a click on the appearing preferences button will open a new window with lots of new options. The Export button in the left corner can be used to save the session information as an .ini file.

winscp sessions

The ini file needs to be transferred to the new computer system. The easiest way to use that ini file is to delete the existing winscp.ini file in the new installation and replace it with the old file. The old file needs to be named winscp.ini as well. It can be that the storage settings of the program need to be edited as well if the ini file is not recognized by WinSCP.

WinSCP supports storing data in the Windows Registry or in ini files. If the former is the default the ini file will not be loaded. The storage location can be edited in the storage options under Preferences.

winscp storage