File kept on/at the server?

Question

I want to write that I have saved the file on the server. What should I write, on the server or at the server?

Welcome to ELU! :-) I have a question for you. Why did you say initially, "I have saved the file on the server?"
Also, are you familiar with our English Language Learners site? You can find it here. — anongoodnurse, Dec 20 '13 at 05:13
"on the server" is correct. It is difficult to explain the collocational significance of prepositions to a non-native speaker, esp., a learner. That is, I can't tell you why it should be on and why not at, right now. — Kris, Dec 20 '13 at 07:02

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

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You are saving files in the memory.

You are saving files to a storage device (flash drive, memory stick, CD).

You are saving files on or to a server.

So far, these are my experiences from reading various IT articles and documentations. I agree with Kris with the difficulty of explaining why. But I'm pretty sure that these are correct to the best of my knowledge.

Saving files to a server is tantamount to uploading files to it. There's a good explanation from this link.

You upload to the server.

You download from the server.

Having these said, I would recommend using to rather than on, but still I cannot explain this more precisely.

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

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answered Dec 20 '13 at 08:32

Lester Nubla

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I've never heard "to the server" after decades in IT. – Bob Dec 20 '13 at 19:43
"To the server" sounds entirely natural to me. – Andreas Blass Dec 20 '13 at 21:47

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 19:46

In American english parlance, files are saved "On" the server, not "to" it. They can be sent "to" a server, but they are kept/saved "on" it. I suspect that there is an inferred clause that's been omitted. The full statement ought to be, "the files are being saved on the server's hard drive", but over time the "hard drive" part has been dropped.

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 14:03

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It must be on, because on connotes the motion of the file, at one place, being transferred to the server to be saved. To save the file at the server, it would have to already be there, in which case it would already be saved.

answered Dec 20 '13 at 14:03

David Schwartz

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 15:24

This is a good question because could be correct depending on the context.

If you have a server that you can access via the Finder in OS X or similar mechanism, I would say I am saving a file on the server, onto the server, or to the server. To be honest, onto the server would be most correct but probably the least used since it implies movement to. A reasonable distinction is whether you are copying or moving.

If I were ssh'd into a server and I were saving a file, I would be saving it at the server or on the server.

File kept on/at the server?

4 Answers4

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