The FILES section in cPanel is a starting point for uploading files, backing up your website and managing your files via FTP *
FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol . You can use FTP to manage files associated with your site whether that means uploading, reading, or restoring them. All you need to use FTP is a client application like FileZilla . Alternatively, cPanel also provides you with tools to manage your files without using an FTP
Regular or simple pages should end with the extension .html or .htm , and SSI files (server-side include) must end with .shtml files to be displayed, CGI files must end in .cgi or .pl if written in perl, PHP files must also end in .php to be displayed.
File Manager
The first function that you want to know under the Files menu is Files Manager . Files Manager allows you to manage all your site files directly from within the cPanel interface instead of having to use a third party FTP tool .
- Log in to cPanel.
- From the Files menu, click on the File Manager icon.
File Manager Overview
It is the place where you can control all of the files that exist on your server, and therefore you will need to proceed with extreme caution when making any changes. There are a few quick things to point out on this screen. First, on the left, you'll find the root main folder, and some subfolders. Then, in the middle of the screen, you will see the contents of any folder you have selected.
File Manager Functions
Create an FTP account
Creating new FTP accounts is a good practice when working with cPanel and launching new projects or websites on hosting. Having one account per project is a good starting point.
- From the Files menu, click FTP Accounts
- In the Add FTP Account form, fill out your data of: Login data, Password, and Directory.
- Click on Create FTP Account.
The idea is that you only give these individual accounts access to the specific folder they need access to, not to the entire hosting server.
Create a new folder
- To create a new folder , click on the Folder + button in the top menu
- You will then be asked to name the new folder and enter the destination where the folder will be created.
- Click on Create new folder to complete the process.
Upload a file
Upload files using file manager:
- Log in to cPanel.
- In the File menu, click File Manager.
- Open the public_html folder.
- Click the Upload icon in the top menu.
- A new page will appear, click on Select file and choose the file you want to upload.
By going back to the File Manager page, you will find that the file has been uploaded successfully.
Access your main FTP account
- From the Files menu, click on FTP Accounts
- Once you get there, scroll down to Special FTP Accounts . Your main FTP account should be there
- By default, the main FTP account will have access to the root directory
