# How to use Softaculous in cPanel

> Install WordPress or hundreds of other apps with Softaculous in cPanel, switch on automatic updates and backups, make a staging copy and remove an app cleanly.

Source: https://www.fasterhost.in/kb/use-softaculous-in-cpanel.php · cPanel · 5 min read · updated 25 September 2026

Softaculous is the app installer inside cPanel. It sets up WordPress, Joomla, PrestaShop, Moodle and hundreds of other applications in about a minute, and it keeps looking after them afterwards: updates, backups, staging copies and clean removal. Most people use the first half once; the second half is where it earns its place.

## Steps

### 1. Open Softaculous

In cPanel, go to **Software → Softaculous Apps Installer**. Applications are grouped by category down the left, with a search box above them. The icons across the top lead to your installations, backups and settings.

### 2. Install an app

Find the application and click **Install**. Then:

- Set the protocol to **https://** and pick the domain.
- **Leave "In Directory" empty** to install at the root of the domain. Anything typed there becomes a subfolder, such as `example.in/wp`.
- Choose an admin username other than `admin`, let Softaculous generate the password, and use an email address you actually read.

For WordPress specifically, the [WordPress install guide](https://www.fasterhost.in/kb/install-wordpress.php) covers the settings to change before you publish.

### 3. Switch on updates and backups before you click Install

Open **Advanced Options** on the install form. **Auto Upgrade** offers three choices: do not upgrade, **Upgrade to Minor versions only**, or upgrade to the latest version, major releases included. Minor versions carry the security fixes, so choose at least that. For WordPress you can also tick automatic upgrades for plugins and themes.

Under **Automated backups**, pick daily, weekly or monthly, and set **Backup Rotation** to how many copies to keep. Softaculous also backs up an installation before it upgrades it.

### 4. Manage what you installed

The installations list shows everything Softaculous manages on the account. Each entry has buttons to change its settings (including the auto-upgrade and backup choices), upgrade it now, back it up, clone it, create a staging copy of a WordPress site, or remove it.

### 5. Remove an app cleanly

Back it up first. Then use **Remove** on the installations list and make sure the options to delete the **directory**, the **database** and the **database user** are ticked. Deleting only the files leaves an orphaned database behind, using space and holding old data.

## Test changes on a staging copy

For WordPress, Softaculous can copy a live site to a staging address, such as a subdomain or a folder, where you can try a major update, a new theme or a heavy plugin without visitors seeing it. When it works, **Push to Live** copies the changes back.

Tick **Discourage search engines from indexing this site** in the staging copy's WordPress settings, so Google does not find a duplicate of your site.

## Bring an existing site under Softaculous

A site installed by hand, or copied over from another host, is invisible to Softaculous until you import it. Open the application's page in Softaculous, choose **Import**, and point it at the domain and folder. From then on it gets the same upgrades and backups as a site Softaculous installed.

## Common questions

**Is Softaculous free?**

Yes for you. The Softaculous licence is included on every FasterHost plan that comes with cPanel, and so is every application in it. Some applications sell paid add-ons of their own.

**Does Softaculous update WordPress automatically?**

Only if you choose an Auto Upgrade option, when installing or later in the installation's settings. WordPress applies its own minor security releases by default; Softaculous adds a backup before each upgrade and can handle major versions, plugins and themes too.

**Where are Softaculous backups stored?**

In a softaculous_backups folder in your home directory, so they count towards your disk space. Download the ones you want to keep, delete old ones, and rely on the account backups in JetBackup for copies kept off the server.

**Can I install WordPress in a subfolder with Softaculous?**

Yes. Type the folder name in In Directory, for example blog for example.in/blog. Leave it empty to install at the root of the domain.

## Related

- [How to install WordPress](https://www.fasterhost.in/kb/install-wordpress.php)
- [How to back up and restore a website in cPanel](https://www.fasterhost.in/kb/back-up-and-restore-a-website-in-cpanel.php)
- [cPanel Hosting](https://www.fasterhost.in/cpanel-hosting.php): cPanel on LiteSpeed and NVMe, served from India
- [Shared Hosting](https://www.fasterhost.in/shared-hosting.php): Fast, affordable hosting for your first site
- [WordPress Hosting](https://www.fasterhost.in/wordpress-hosting.php): Managed WordPress that flies