Managing files in cPanel

File Manager is a web interface for managing the files and folders of your website without needing an FTP client.

Opening File Manager

1. Log in to cPanel
2. In the FILES section, click File Manager
3. File Manager opens in a new window

Directory structure

Main folders

public_html

The main website folder — this is where the files of your main website, served on your domain, are kept

public_html/subdomain

Subdomain folders

mail

Where email messages are stored

tmp

Temporary files

logs

Server logs (access logs and error logs)

.htaccess

Apache configuration file (a hidden file)

.well-known

System folder used for SSL certificates

The File Manager interface

Top toolbar

• +File — create a new file
• +Folder — create a new folder
• Copy — copy the selected files
• Move — move files
• Upload — upload files
• Download — download files
• Delete — delete files

Context menu (right-click)

• View — view a file
• Edit — edit a file
• Code Edit — code editor with syntax highlighting
• HTML Edit — HTML editor
• Rename — rename
• Change Permissions — change permissions (chmod)
• Compress — compress into an archive
• Extract — extract an archive

Uploading files

Method 1: using the File Manager interface

1. Open File Manager
2. Go to the folder you need (usually public_html)
3. Click Upload
4. Select the files on your computer
5. Wait for the upload to finish

Method 2: drag and drop

1. Open File Manager
2. Open the folder with the files on your computer
3. Drag the files into the File Manager window
4. The files upload automatically

Upload limits

• Maximum file size: depends on the PHP settings (usually 128–256 MB)
• File types: most types are allowed, but some may be blocked for security reasons
• Number of files: we recommend uploading no more than 50 files at a time

Creating and editing files

Creating a new file

1. Click +File in the top toolbar
2. Enter a file name (for example, index.html)
3. Click Create New File
4. The file appears in the current directory

Editing a file

Code Editor (recommended for code)

1. Right-click the file → Code Edit
2. An editor with syntax highlighting opens
3. Make your changes
4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Close to leave the editor

Code Editor features:

• Syntax highlighting for PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript
• Line numbers
• Automatic indentation
• Find and replace (Ctrl+F)

HTML Editor (for visual editing)

1. Right-click the file → HTML Edit
2. Use the WYSIWYG editor
3. Save your changes

Edit (simple text editor)

1. Right-click the file → Edit
2. A simple text editor without highlighting opens
3. Good for quick changes

Working with folders

Creating a folder

1. Click +Folder
2. Enter a folder name
3. Click Create New Folder

Moving between folders

• Double-click a folder to open it
• Use the Up One Level button to go up a level
• Use the breadcrumb navigation (the path at the top) to jump straight to a folder

Copying and moving

1. Select the files or folders (tick the box on the left)
2. Click Copy or Move
3. Choose the destination folder
4. Confirm the action

Managing permissions

What permissions are

Permissions determine who can read, write or execute a file:

• Read (r) — reading (4)
• Write (w) — writing (2)
• Execute (x) — executing (1)

Permissions are set for three categories:

• Owner (User) — the owner
• Group — the group
• World (Others) — everyone else

Recommended permissions

Changing permissions

1. Right-click the file or folder → Change Permissions
2. Tick the boxes you need, or enter the numeric value
3. To apply the change to subfolders as well, tick Recurse into subdirectories
4. Click Change Permissions

Working with archives

Creating an archive

1. Select the files or folders to archive
2. Right-click → Compress
3. Choose the archive type:
   • Zip Archive — the most compatible
   • GZipped Tar Archive (.tar.gz) — good compression
   • BZipped Tar Archive (.tar.bz2) — even better compression
   • Tar Archive — no compression
4. Enter a name for the archive
5. Click Compress File(s)

Extracting an archive

1. Right-click the archive → Extract
2. Choose the folder to extract it into
3. Click Extract File(s)

Searching for files

1. Click Search in the top toolbar
2. Enter the file name, or part of it
3. Choose the search options:
   • Search in — where to search
   • Case Sensitive — match upper and lower case exactly
4. Click Go
5. The results appear in a list

Showing hidden files

Hidden files (those that start with a dot) are not shown by default.

To show them:

1. Click Settings in the top right-hand corner
2. Tick Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)
3. Click Save

Important hidden files:

• .htaccess — Apache configuration
• .htpasswd — passwords for protected directories
• .well-known — used for SSL certificates

Recovering deleted files

File Manager has no recycle bin, so deleted files can’t be recovered directly.

Ways to get them back:

1. Use a backup from the Backup section
2. Contact our support team
3. Restore them from a local copy

Checking disk usage

1. In the FILES section, choose Disk Usage
2. Look at:
   • Total disk space used
   • Usage by folder
   • The largest files
3. Use the chart to see the breakdown visually

Password-protecting directories

To restrict access to particular folders:

1. In the FILES section → Directory Privacy
2. Select the folder to protect
3. Click Edit
4. Tick Password protect this directory
5. Enter a name for the protected area
6. Click Save
7. Create a user:
   • Enter a username and password
   • Click Save

From now on, anyone who tries to open the folder is asked for a username and password by the browser.

Directory indexing

To control how the contents of folders are displayed:

1. Go to ADVANCED → Indexes
2. Select a folder
3. Choose a type:
   • No Indexing — prevent anyone from viewing the folder’s contents
   • Standard Indexing — a simple list of files
   • Fancy Indexing — an extended list with icons
4. Set any additional options (optional)

Keyboard shortcuts

Troubleshooting common problems

I can’t upload a file

Causes:

• The file is too large — use FTP, or raise the limit in MultiPHP INI Editor
• You have exceeded your disk quota — free up some space, or contact us
• Insufficient permissions — check the permissions on the folder

My website shows an error after I changed files

Solution:

1. Check the syntax in the files you edited
2. Check the permissions (they should be 644 for files)
3. Look at the Error Log in the METRICS section
4. Restore from a backup if necessary

I can’t see the files I uploaded

Check:

• That you are in the right folder (public_html for the main website)
• Whether showing hidden files is switched on
• Refresh the browser page (F5 or Ctrl+R)

500 Internal Server Error

Common causes:

• An error in the .htaccess file — rename it temporarily
• Incorrect permissions — set 644 for files and 755 for folders
• A syntax error in a PHP script — check the Error Log

Best practice

1. Organising files
   • Use clear names for folders and files
   • Separate content by type (images, css, js)
   • Don’t use spaces in file names
2. Security
   • Set the minimum permissions that are needed
   • Update your CMS and plugins regularly
   • Don’t keep sensitive data in public_html
3. Performance
   • Compress images before uploading them
   • Delete files you no longer use
   • Clear out temporary files and the cache
4. Backups
   • Make a backup before any major change
   • Keep copies of important files locally
   • Use a version control system for code

See also

• Setting up FTP access
• Creating backups
• File security
• Optimising images

External links

• Official cPanel File Manager documentation
• PHP File Upload