Differences Between Download and Upload

by Sue Smith

Anyone who uses the Web regularly engages in downloading, uploading or both. Most Internet activity for the average user involves downloading. However, uploading is common, particularly among businesses that manage website content. For example, Web developers and website administrators use tools for uploading regularly. When you use a Web browser or read emails, you are accessing data that has been downloaded onto your computing device. Understanding the differences between uploading and downloading should give you a good grasp of Internet basics.

Client and Server

When you access Web applications by browsing a website or reading emails, your computer is the client. The data displayed on websites and in emails is stored on servers accessible through the Internet. Servers are computers with software running on them that allows them to host and serve this Web data. When someone builds a website, they place the content of the site on a server. When a user visits the site, his computer requests this content from the server and the server responds by returning it to be displayed in the user's Web browser. When a file or data item is transferred from the Internet to your computer, this is a typical example of downloading. When a file is sent from your computer to the Internet, this is a typical example of uploading.


Users access websites through Web browser applications such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. When you visit a website, your computer downloads the website content from the Web server and then presents it to you. Email programs use a similar process, downloading the email content from an email server onto your computer. Such applications can also involve uploading. Website administrators use applications such as Web browsers and FTP clients to upload website content to Web servers. When you attach a file to an email, through a website form or social network, the file is uploaded to the Web.


Uploading and downloading use similar technologies. Whenever data is transferred across a network, such as when uploading or downloading, a protocol is used. Protocols tell the computers at either end how to handle the data being transferred. When you browse a website, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol normally facilitates the data transfer. When you upload data, sometimes the File Transfer Protocol is used, particularly when using an FTP client program for administering website content. Both HTTP and FTP can be involved in uploading and downloading.


If you engage in both uploading and downloading, one of the most noticeable differences is the speed of data transfer. Uploading tends to be much slower than downloading, with Internet Service Providers often referring to these as "upstream" and "downstream" transfers. For most people using the Web, the download speed is much more important than the upload speed, as any uploading tends to be less frequent and with smaller amounts of data than downloading. Upload speed tends only to be an issue for people who carry out Internet work, such as Web development.

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