---
title: "Securely Copying Files with SCP"
source: "https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/server-administration/linux/file-management/securely-copying-files-with-scp/"
description: "SCP lets you securely transfer files over SSH between local and remote hosts, with simple syntax and support for directories, ports, and remote-to-remote copies…"
vertical: "Hosting"
date: "2025-05-27"
last_modified: "2026-07-29"
---

# Securely Copying Files with SCP

The Secure Copy Protocol, commonly known as **SCP**, is a valuable tool for **copying files between hosts on a network**. It is particularly useful for transferring files to or from your server.

One of the key advantages of SCP is that it **uses ssh(1) for data transfer**. This means it utilizes the **same authentication methods and provides the same level of security as SSH**. When authentication requires it, SCP will prompt you for passwords or passphrases.

SCP is flexible; **any file name specified in the command can include a host and user specification**, allowing you to indicate that the file should be copied to or from a specific remote host. Furthermore, SCP even **permits copies directly between two different remote hosts**.

When you copy a file to a target location where a file with the same name already exists, **SCP will replace the existing file’s contents**, keeping the original file’s inode (which identifies it within the filesystem).

If the target file does not exist yet, SCP will first **create an empty file with the specified target name**, and then fill it with the content from the source file. It does not use temporary files for this process.

#### **The basics of SCP commands**

The structure of an SCP command is straightforward:

```
<strong>scp $flags $source $destination</strong>
```

Here, $flags are optional parameters (like -r or -P), $source is the file or directory you want to copy, and $destination is where you want to copy it to. When working with remote servers, you can **add the IP address or hostname along with the username to either the source or the destination side** of the command. The format for specifying a remote file is typically user@hostname\_or\_ip:/path/to/file.

#### **Common SCP examples**

Here are some practical examples of how to use SCP:

To copy a file named “foobar.txt” from a remote server to a directory on your local computer:

```
$ scp your_user@remotehost.net:foobar.txt /some/local/directory
```

To copy a file named “foobar.txt” from your local computer to a directory on a remote server:

```
$ scp foobar.txt your_user@remotehost.net:/some/remote/directory
```

To copy an entire directory named “foo” from your local computer to a directory named “bar” on a remote server, you need to use the -r flag (which stands for recursive):

```
$ scp -r foo your_user@remotehost.net:/some/remote/directory/bar
```

To copy a file named “foobar.txt” directly between two different remote hosts, say from “rh1.net” to “rh2.net”:

```
$ scp your_user@rh1.net:/some/remote/directory/foobar.txt your_user@rh2.net:/some/remote/directory/
```

To copy multiple specific files, such as “foo.txt” and “bar.txt”, from your local computer to your home directory on a remote server (represented by ~):

```
$ scp foo.txt bar.txt your_user@remotehost.net:~
```

If your SSH server is configured to use a port other than the default port 22, you can specify the port number using the -P flag (note: it’s a capital ‘P’ for port):

```
$ scp -P 2264 foobar.txt your_user@remotehost.net:/some/remote/directory
```

To copy multiple files from a remote host to your current working directory on the local host (represented by .):

```
$ scp your_user@remotehost.net:/some/remote/directory/{a,b,c} . $ scp your_user@remotehost.net:~/{foo.txt,bar.txt} .
```

Understanding these basic commands and the structure of SCP allows you to securely transfer files between your local machine and your server, or even between two servers.