Accessing the File Manager in cPanel
Web hosting involves more than just setting up a name server and DNS to make your website accessible online. It also includes creating and uploading files such as pictures, videos, and documents to your File Manager, which form the content of your website pages.
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What is the File Manager?
File Manager is a program that provides a user-friendly interface for managing web files and folders. It organizes files and folders in a hierarchical or tree-like structure and can be accessed from the control panel of your Hosting Manager.
Besides creating, updating, deleting, or uploading files, the File Manager offers additional functions to enhance your file management experience:
Additional functions
| Upload | Allows you to upload individual files, such as text or images. |
| Download | Enables you to download files and save them to your local hard drive. |
| Copy | Allows you to copy files and paste them in another location. |
| Move | Enables you to move files and folders from one location to another. |
| Rename | Allows you to rename files or folders. |
| Delete | Enables you to delete files or folders. |
| Edit Code | Opens a selected file in a code editor. |
| Edit HTML | Opens a selected file in an HTML editor. |
| Extract Compressed Files |
Allows you to extract files and folders from a compressed or zipped file.
NOTE. This function will only work if Zip is installed on your server. Your system administrator can run the command yum install zip to install the PHP Module: Zip. |
| Compress Files or Folders | Enables you to compress selected files or folders into a single compressed or zipped file.
NOTE. Your hosting provider must enable this feature. |
| Password Protect | Restricts access to a folder by setting a username and password.
NOTE. Your hosting provider must enable this feature. |
Features and their functions
To understand your File Manager better, here are some of its basic features:
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Task Bar: Perform basic tasks like creating a new folder, deleting a file, or editing a file.
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Current Location: Displays the current location within the file system. You can also specify a path here to navigate to another location.
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File Tree: A visual representation of how your files are structurally stored, useful for navigation
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Current Folder Contents: Displays the contents of the currently opened folder.
IMPORTANT
- All web files must go in public_html folder. Do NOT place any other files for your website anywhere but here.
- Your home page filename MUST be labelled index.htm or index.html. The server will look for this page to display as your first page.
Accessing the cPanel File Manager
Once the File Manager loads, all of the files and folders in your webspace will be displayed.
- Log in to your cPanel.
- Scroll to the Files section, then click the File Manager icon.
IMPORTANT. Any edits you make to files here will be immediately reflected on your site. Therefore, we recommend using the File Manager edit function only for minor changes. Any significant site changes that could compromise its functionality should be made using FTP, but only after creating a backup.