When you purchase a hosting plan, you need a way to upload your website code, images, and folders to the server. cPanel's File Manager is an incredibly powerful web-based tool that lets you manage your site files directly from your browser without using external FTP software like FileZilla.
In this tutorial, we will walk you through the essential operations of the cPanel File Manager, including logging in, uploading files, extracting zip folders, editing code inline, and configuring permissions.
Step 1: Opening File Manager in cPanel
Log into your cPanel account (accessible via your client area dashboard or `yourdomain.com:2083`).
Once logged in, look for the **Files** section and click on the **File Manager** icon. This will open a new window showing your server's directory layout.
Step 2: Locating the Root Directory (public_html)
On the left pane of the File Manager, you will see a folder structure.
Important: The only folder you should care about for your live website is public_html. Any file placed inside `public_html` is accessible to the public over the internet.
Double-click on public_html on the right side pane. This is the root directory where your website files (like `index.html` or `index.php`) must reside.
Step 3: Uploading & Extracting Files
To upload files (e.g., your website project or a fresh WordPress installation package):
- Click the **Upload** button in the top menu bar.
- Select your file or drag and drop a **ZIP** file from your computer. We strongly recommend uploading files compressed as `.zip` rather than uploading single folders because it is up to 100x faster!
- Once the progress bar turns green (reaches 100%), close the upload tab.
- Back in the File Manager, click **Reload** to see your ZIP file.
- Right-click on the ZIP file and select **Extract**. Alternatively, click the ZIP file and select "Extract" from the top menu bar.
⚠️ Warning on Folder Structure:
When extracting files, make sure the files are extracted directly into `public_html/` and NOT a subfolder (e.g. `public_html/my-project/`). If they are in a subfolder, visitors will have to type `yourdomain.com/my-project` to view your site instead of `yourdomain.com`.
Step 4: Inline Code Editing
Need to make a quick hotfix to your CSS, HTML, or PHP file? You don't need to download, edit, and re-upload.
Right-click on the target file (like `index.html`) and click **Edit** (or select the file and click "Edit" in the top bar). A prompt will ask you about character encoding — just click **Edit**.
This opens a full code editor right inside your browser window, complete with line numbers, code highlighting, and basic syntax checking. After editing, click **Save Changes** at the top right.
Step 5: Managing File Permissions
Sometimes, your website application (like WordPress) will return errors because of incorrect folder permissions.
In cPanel File Manager, the rightmost column displays "Permissions." By default:
- All standard files should have permissions set to 0644.
- All directories/folders must be set to 0755.
To change permissions, right-click on any file/folder, click **Change Permissions**, check/uncheck the read/write boxes as required, and click save.