Windows consists of hundreds of small tools and utilities to help users with daily tasks. Many of these tools can also be used for network file transferring and management.

In this article, we’re looking at the SCP permission denied error, its causes and what you can do to fix the problem.

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What is the SCP permission denied error?

SCP or Secure Copy Protocol runs on top of SSH and is used to explicitly copy data from one host to another over a network or the internet.

The SCP permission denied error is usually displayed when the user is trying to copy data from a remote host or server while not having the required permissions to access the data. You can also run into this problem if you’re trying to copy files to your root directory, which doesn’t allow the user to store data.

How to fix the SCP permission denied error?

Here are a few fixes you can try to resolve the SCP permission denied error.

Change the directory

If you’re trying to store data in the root directory, you’ll run into the permission denied error. The root directory in Windows doesn’t let users save data, which can cause the SCP permission denied error.

Instead, store data in a folder or somewhere else. You can specify the path to your home directory using.

/home/foldername

Alternatively

~/

Check permissions

Having the right permissions on the remote server to access data is also essential, as otherwise, you’ll be able to see data but won’t be able to copy or move it to another host. Check the host machine and change data access permissions to the user rather than the root.

Specify the port number

For security reasons, admins often change the default port for the SCP command on the remote host. If you’re using the default or incorrect port number, you will have permission issues and several other problems.

Check the host machine for the correct port number and then use it in the SCP command using the -P flag.

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