Using the File Manager Interface with cPanel

cPanel - Files - File Manager

YouTube Video Tutorials - cPanel File Manager

The "cPanel File Manager" YouTube video tutorials provide a comprehensive overview of navigating and using the File Manager tool in cPanel. Viewers learn how to upload, organize, and edit files, manage permissions, and create backups. These essential skills help users efficiently manage their website files and streamline their hosting experience.

The File Manager

Upload, download, create, copy, move, update, edit, view, extract, compress, password protect, search, delete, restore
Files, images or folders

How to Add Modify View Delete Manage files with your cPanel account using the File Manager

Log into your cPanel account

Navigate to "Files" section - "File Manager" menu

You will be taken /home/user directory by default. Feel free to change the default directory in the Settings menu:

Here, you can also enable "Show Hidden Files" option.
With this option, System files such as the .htaccess will be displayed in File Manager as well.

The "public_html" folder

The "public_html" folder is the web root for your primary domain name.
This means that the "public_html" is the folder where you put all website files which you want to appear when someone types your Domain Name.

If you wish to upload files, for example an addon domain, you will need to move into the "/public_html/youraddondomain" directory.

The interface of File Manager is divided into 4 sections:

1  The File Manager Toolbar
In the first section, you can find a toolbar with all the basic functions for managing files such as creating a new folder, deleting a file, upload-download and much more.

2  The File Window
The second is the file listing section, it displays the content of the selected directory. If no files or folders are created, the following message will be displayed in the file window This directory is an empty message.

3  The Navigation Toolbar
The navigation toolbar section allows navigating between folders in the file window.

4  Current Location Window
The location section shows the directory you are currently located in.

To Upload a File

Open the File Manager
Navigate to the folder you wish to upload the file(s) to
Click on the Upload icon
Click Select File and locate the file on your local machine
Select the file and click on Open/Choose
Or simply drag and drop the needed file from your local machine to the upload window.

To Copy or Move a File

Open the File Manager
Select the file(s) you wish to copy/move
After the needed items are selected, click the Copy or Move icon
Or by right-clicking on the selected file(s) and choose Copy or Move option from the drop-down menu
Once done, the confirmation window with the final destination will pop up.

To Create a New File

Open the File Manager
Navigate to the folder where you wish to create a file
Click on +File icon – a new pop-up box will appear to enter the name of the file you wish to be created.
Click the Create New File

To Delete a File

Open the File Manager
Navigate to the folder where the file(s) you wish to delete is located
Select the file(s) and hit the Delete icon
Or right-click on the file and use the Delete option from the drop-down menu
Once done, the confirmation window will pop up
The deleted files are moved to the system trash folder
If you wish to remove the file(s) permanently, check-mark Skip the trash and permanently delete the files option.

NOTE: The files are stored in the trash folder for 90 days. After 90 days, they are removed from the Server automatically.

To Restore a File

Open the File Manager
Navigate to the trash folder in /home/user/ directory
Select the needed file(s) and hit the Restore icon
Or right-click on the file and use the Restore option from the drop-down menu
Once done, the confirmation window will pop up.

To Edit a File

Open the File Manager
Select the file you wish to edit and hit one of the Edit icons
Or right-click on the file and use Edit/Code Edit/HTML Editor from the drop-down menu
Choose one of the three following editors from the pop-up menu:

Edit: this editor will edit a document as plain text

Code Editor: this editor will edit a document as code and give line numbers down the side of the editor. You can highlight your code with color by using the syntax drop-down menu and selecting the code you are working with

HTML Editor: The editor will let you edit a document as an HTML document. In this editor, you can also switch between design view, (as a text document). Source view (through the html code itself). Or a preview mode, (view the page through the web) by selecting the appropriate tab in the bottom left of the editor.

To Compress a File

It is useful to store a group of files in one file for an easy backup or for a transfer to another directory, as well as compress large files. Compressed files take up less disk space and are downloaded faster via the Internet. The data can be compressed into a single *.zip, *.Gz, or *.Bz2 archive
Open the File Manager
Select the files/directories you wish to compress and hit the Compress icon
Define Compression Type and enter the name of the archive
Once done, hit Compress File(s).

To Extract a File

Open the File Manager
Select the file you wish to uncompress
Hit Extract icon
Or right-click on the file and use the Extract option
Define the path you wish to extract the file to
Once done, hit Extract File(s)

To change Permissions for a File

Open the File Manager
Select the file/folder you wish to change permissions for and hit the Permissions icon
Or right-click on the file/folder and use the Change Permissions option from the drop-down menu
Set the needed value and hit Change Permissions.

Search for an item

The Search text box at the top-right corner of the interface allows users to search for a specific file. By default, the Search text box searches all files in the home folder. You can limit the search to the document root at /home/user/public_html, where user represents your cPanel username. You can also limit the search to the folder in the interface.

To search for a file, perform the following steps:

Use the Search menu to select the folder to search. You can select from the following options:
◦ All Your Files
◦ only public_html
◦ Current Directory

Enter the desired file name in the text box.

Click Go.

A new interface displays the filenames that match your search.

To go to a folder, or go to the folder that contains the file, double-click the desired item in the list.

If no files that include your search term exist, a No records found message appears.

Other item actions

Right-click on files or folder icons and a pop up menu of actions that the system customizes based on the file’s type.

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