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What Is a URL?

A URL, or uniform resource locator, is the Internet address of a file. URLs are case-sensitive. The most common syntax of a URL is:

protocol://computer[:port]/path/filename

To connect to a secure FTP (file transfer protocol) site, the correct URL format is:

ftp://username:password@ftp.site.name

Where:

protocol	is the Internet protocol used to transmit the file. Examples of different protocols are shown below.
computer	is the domain name of the server where the file is stored (for example, www.company.com).
port	is the port number (required only when a nonstandard TCP port number is used).

Microsoft Internet Explorer supports the following protocols.

Note

• The addresses used in the following examples are specific to commercial organizations. Other addresses might use designations such as .org or .edu.

Protocol	Example
Hypertext Transfer Protocol	http://www.microsoft.com
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Security	https://www.company.com
File Transfer Protocol	ftp://ftp.microsoft.com
Electronic mail (e-mail) address	mailto:name@company.com
Gopher	gopher://www.company.com
File	file:path\filename