Resolving FileZilla Error: “The Server’s Certificate is Unknown” & ECONNREFUSED

You might receive the following error when trying to connect to your cPanel shared hosting account with FileZilla

“The server’s certificate is unknown. Please carefully examine the certificate to make sure the server can be trusted.”

Proceeding past this error will then generate this error

“Error: The data connection could not be established: ECONNREFUSED – Connection refused by server”

Solutions

To resolve this error, you must either connect via sFTP or disable TLS in FileZilla’s Site Manager.

Connecting via sFTP

This solution applies only to Linux-based hosting accounts.

This solution only works if you’re connecting with the primary FTP user.

1. Enable SSH on your account.
2. In FileZilla, use the following information to connect:

Field	What to enter…
Host	sftp://your hosting account’s IP address
Username & Password	Your hosting account’s username and password
Port	22

Disabling TLS in the Site Manager

This solution works for any FTP user.

1. In FileZilla, from the File menu, select Site Manager.
2. Click New Site.
3. Complete the following fields, and then click Connect:

Field	What to do…
Host	Enter your hosting account’s IP address.
Protocol	Select FTP – File Transfer Protocol.
Encryption	Select Use plain FTP.
Logon Type	Select Normal.
User & Password	Enter your hosting account’s username and password.

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