Open ftp protocol in WinSCP from chrome

Question

On a day to day basis I need to access various FTP servers. I have a ftp:// protocol link for each of them in our webinterface. Everytime I click them, Chrome opens them in a new tab in its built-in "FTP client" instead of WinSCP (the FTP client I've set in windows as the default ftp:// protocol handler).

How can I make chrome opening the ftp:// protocol in my systems default application? Why is this working with nearly every protocol but ftp:// by default?

WinSCP can be registered to handle file transfer protocol URL addresses. See the winscp.net article [Protocol URL Addresses](https://winscp.net/eng/docs/integration_url). I don't know how well this Windows feature is supported by Chrome. — harrymc, Mar 14 '18 at 08:04
@harrymc Thanks, but thats what I've done already. But unfortunately Chrome ignores that and still opens FTP links in its own directory listing page. — tinyoverflow, Mar 14 '18 at 17:27

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 14 '18 at 19:27

I found that Chrome does not launch external programs for custom URL handlers, only websites, for security reasons.

You need an extension for that, which communicates with the web-page through Message Passing and using Native messaging.

I have not been able to find such an extension for WinSCP, but I did find a couple of extensions that may be able to launch external programs with parameters:

External Application Button
This extension is used by Trello to create a button that launches their application, as described in the article Ability to launch SalesMap from a chrome extension button, but its version is only 0.2.8, meaning in alpha or beta testing.
Open in external app
This is version 0.3, last updated on September 2016, so it does not look as if it is still in active development.

I have no idea how well do these extensions work, but I do not think you are looking to write your own extension if they do not work out.

Open ftp protocol in WinSCP from chrome

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