Access SFTP reports

PayPal can deliver reports to a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) environment, giving you automated access to detailed transaction data. Unlike reports accessed manually through the PayPal portal, SFTP reports are generated on a schedule and delivered to a designated server location, making them ideal for reconciliation pipelines and system integrations.

You can retrieve reports using the command line or any SFTP client, such as WinSCP, Cyberduck, or FileZilla.

Reports are available in CSV format and support a range of business needs, including dispute management, settlement reconciliation, recurring billing, and revenue share tracking.

Before you begin

Before accessing SFTP reports, complete the following steps:

• Create an SFTP user account. Account setup can take up to 48 hours, and PayPal sends a confirmation email when your account is ready.
• Contact PayPal support to enable report access for your account.
• To access Transaction reports, contact PayPal support to enable your subscription. After activation, go to the reports section of your account and click Subscribe for the reports you want.

For more information about communicating with the server after setup, see the PayPal Secure FTP Server Specification.

Create an SFTP user account

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Hover the pointer over your name, and select Account Settings from the dropdown menu.
3. On the Account access page, select Update for Secure FTP.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the account setup. When complete, the final screen displays your new user information.

Provide third-party access

To grant access to third-party users, you must explicitly grant access to third parties by contacting your PayPal account manager and providing the following information:

• The third party's PayPal login username
• The type of permission to grant, typically reporting access (read)

PayPal then notifies the third party by email that they have been granted access to their business partner's Secure FTP Server for PayPal reports.

Download reports

You can download reports from PayPal's live or sandbox environment using the command line. The hostname of the Secure FTP Server is reports.paypal.com.

1. Open a Terminal window, and connect to the reporting server:

   • Sandbox:

     sftp <sftp_account_username>@reports.sandbox.paypal.com

   • Live:

     sftp <sftp_account_username>@reports.paypal.com

2. Enter your SFTP account password.

3. Navigate to your outgoing reports directory.

   cd ppreports/outgoing

4. List the available report files.

   ls

   You should see a list of report filenames in the ppreports/outgoing directory. If no files are listed, no reports have been generated yet for your account.

5. Download a report file.

   get <filename>

Replace <filename> with the report file name. The file downloads to your current local working directory. Confirm the download by verifying the file exists locally and that its size is greater than zero bytes.

6. Exit the session.

   exit

For instructions for retrieving reports using a GUI-based SFTP client, such as WinSCP, see How do I access the SFTP server and retrieve my reports?

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues connecting to the SFTP server or retrieving reports, review the following:

Connection refused or timeout

Symptom: The SFTP connection attempt times out or is refused immediately.

Solutions:

• Confirm that your firewall or network allows outbound connections on port 22 (the standard SFTP port).
• Verify that you are connecting to the correct hostname:
  • reports.paypal.com for live
  • reports.sandbox.paypal.com for sandbox
• If connecting from a corporate network, check whether outbound SFTP traffic is blocked or requires a proxy.

Authentication failure

Symptom: The server rejects your username or password.

Solutions:

• Confirm that you are using the SFTP account credentials created during setup, not your PayPal login credentials. These are separate accounts.
• Passwords are case-sensitive. Check for input errors.
• Reset your password in Account Settings > Secure FTP if needed.

Files not listed

Symptom: The ppreports/outgoing directory is empty.

Solutions:

• Reports are generated on a daily schedule. If your account was recently enabled, wait until the next generation cycle and try again.
• Confirm you are subscribed to the required reports in your PayPal account.

Account is not enabled

Symptom: You cannot find the Secure FTP item in your Account Settings, or you receive an error indicating your account is not enabled for report access.

Solution: Contact PayPal support to enable your account for report access. Account creation can take up to 48 hours after enablement is confirmed. If your account has been enabled but you still can't find the Secure FTP item in your account settings, go to Secure SFTP Server Users directly.

Related content

For more information about PayPal reports, see the following related content:

• T-codes
• Online reports