How to use the cPanel File Manager

1. 01

   Open File Manager and find public_html

   In cPanel, go to Files → File Manager. Your main domain's website lives in public_html. Addon domains and subdomains usually have folders of their own; the Domains page shows each one's document root.

2. 02

   Upload your files

   Open the folder the files belong in and click Upload, then drag the files in or use Select File. For a whole website, upload one .zip rather than hundreds of loose files: it is faster, and nothing gets missed.

   For very large files, use an FTP app instead. A browser upload that drops halfway starts again from zero.

3. 03

   Extract the archive

   Select the .zip and click Extract in the toolbar, or right-click it and choose Extract. Confirm the folder and wait for the list of extracted files. Then delete the archive.

   If the files landed inside an extra folder, such as public_html/mysite/, open it, select everything and use Move to bring the files up into public_html.

4. 04

   Show hidden files to edit .htaccess

   Files whose names start with a dot are hidden by default. Click Settings at the top right, tick Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) and save. .htaccess now appears; right-click it and choose Edit. The editor opens files under 1 MB.

   Copy the file before editing it. One wrong line in .htaccess takes the whole site down with a 500 error, and the copy is your way back.

5. 05

   Set safe permissions

   Select a file or folder and click Permissions. Use 644 for files and 755 for folders. A file holding passwords, such as wp-config.php, can be tightened to 600.

   Never use 777. It lets anything on the server rewrite the file, and a folder the site must write to only needs 755.

Common questions

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