How to use the cPanel File Manager

The File Manager is the in-browser tool for managing every file on your hosting account - your website's HTML, images, scripts, and uploaded user files. Most casual edits and uploads can be done here without ever installing an FTP client.

Opening the File Manager

1. Log in to cPanel via your client area (see How to access cPanel ).
2. In the Files section, click File Manager.
3. You land in your home directory. Your website's public files live in public_html/ - that is the folder visitors see when they hit yourdomain.co.za.

Common tasks

• Upload files: click Upload in the top toolbar. Drag and drop multiple files at once. The progress bar shows each file completing.
• Edit a file in the browser: right-click the file → Edit (for text files) or HTML Editor (for HTML with a WYSIWYG view). Save with the green Save button top-right.
• Create a new file or folder: click + File or + Folder in the toolbar.
• Move or rename: right-click → Move or Rename. You can also drag files between folders in the tree view.
• Compress or extract: right-click → Compress (creates a .zip) or Extract (unzips an archive). Useful for uploading a whole site as one file.
• Change permissions (chmod): right-click → Permissions. Most files want 644, folders want 755 (see File permissions explained ).

The hidden files toggle

Files starting with a dot (.htaccess, .env, .user.ini) are hidden by default. Click Settings top-right → tick Show Hidden Files → Save. .htaccess in particular is what you edit for URL rewrites, redirects and PHP overrides.

When to use FTP instead

The File Manager is great for occasional edits and small uploads. For uploading hundreds of files (e.g. moving a whole WordPress install), use FTP/SFTP - it is faster and resilient to disconnects. See Connecting via FTP .

Open your client area