How to use the File Manager

The File Manager is available in your cPanel. It provides an easy way to view and manage your files. With File Manager, you can modify certain files directly on the server, change file permissions, move files, and delete unwanted files.

For power users, you can also edit or upload your files via FTP.

How to Access the File Manager

  1. Log in to cPanel and locate File Manager under Popular Tools

  2. Click on File Manager

File Manager Features

These features can be found on the toolbar at the top of the File Manager. Alternatively, many of these features can be accessed by right-clicking the file you wish to manipulate.

File

To create a new file:

  1. Click on a folder, in the right or left-hand pane, where you want to create the new file.

  2. Click on the file icon to create a file.

  3. You will be prompted to name the new file along with its extension (e.g. .txt, .html, .php, etc.)

  4. If you are not in the right folder you may also change its location under new file will be created in:

  5. Click create new file

Folder

To create a new folder:

  1. Click on a folder, in the right or left-hand pane, where you want to create the new folder.

  2. Click on the folder icon to create a folder.

  3. You will be prompted to name the new folder

  4. If you are not in the right folder you may also change its location under new folder will be created in:

  5. Click create new folder

Copy

To copy a file or folder:

  1. Select the file or folder you wish to copy

  2. Click the copy icon

  3. Enter the file path where you want the copied file or folder to exist

  4. Click copy file(s)

Move

To move a file or folder:

  1. Select the file or folder to move

  1. Click the move icon

  2. Enter the path you would like the file or folder to be moved to

  3. Click move file(s)

Or

     2. Select the file or folder to move

  1. Click on the file or folder and drag it to a folder in the right or left-hand pane

Upload & Download files

Your website’s files should be placed in the public_html folder (or, in the case of addon domains, in its web root). Files outside of the public folders cannot be accessed online.

Consider naming your home page file index.html, index.htm, or index.php in order for it to be shown automatically as soon as someone accesses your domain. If there is already a default index file in your public_html folder, you may overwrite it with your own.

Upload

To upload a file onto your account:

  1. Click on the upload tab

  2. And either

  1. Drag and drop a file into the indicated area

  2. Click select file and choose files from your computer

Download

To download a file:

  1. Select the file you wish to download

  2. Click the download icon

  3. The file will be downloaded onto your computer

Download a folder:

Downloading a folder is the same as above, except you will need to compress the folder. See the compress feature below.

Delete

Delete a file or folder:

  1. Select the file or folder you wish to delete

  2. Click the delete icon

  3. To permanently delete, check the box that appears. Otherwise, the deleted files will be placed in the Trash folder.

  4. Click confirm

Restore

To restore a file or folder:

  1. Click the view trash icon found in the blue toolbar, below the primary toolbar

  2. Select the file or folder to restore

  3. Click the restore icon

  4. Click restore file(s)

Rename

To rename a file or folder:

  1. Select the file or folder you wish to rename

  2. Click the rename icon

  3. Enter the new file name (please remember to add/keep the correct file extension)

  4. Click rename file

Information on Edit, HTML Editor and Permissions features can be found further down. They have been separated as they are primarily for power-users.

View

To view a file:

  1. Select the file

  2. Click the view icon

Extract (uncompress)

To extract a file:

  1. Select the file(s) you wish to extract (it will need to have the extension .zip or .tar)

  2. Click the extract icon

  3. Enter the folder you wish the extracted files to appear in

  4. Click extract file(s)

Compress

  1. Select the file(s) you wish to compress

  2. Click the compress icon

  3. Select the type of compression software you wish to use out of Zip, Tar, GZiped or Bzip2ed

  4. Enter the folder you wish the compressed file(s) to appear in and the name of the file

  5. Click compress file(s)

Using the code editing and permissions features

If you wish to manipulate the code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.) of your website or database, File Manager provides and two editing tools for just such a purpose.

Edit

To edit a file:

  1. Select the file you wish to edit

  2. Click edit in the toolbar (if the edit button is grey, then the File Manager does not recognize the file as one which can be edited)

  3. A box will appear asking if you wish to disable encoding check and which type of character encoding system you wish to use (default utf-8 in most cases).  Unless you are a power-user looking for different options, click edit to continue.

  4. You now have access to the code within the file and can manipulate it as needed

HTML Editor

This feature will allow you to edit a rendered webpage (looks similar to how it appears on the website). The feature allows none power-user as a simpler way to make changes to their website files, but we recommend using a CMS, such as Weebly or Presence Builder, as it is much more user-friendly.

To use HTML editor:

  1. Select the file you wish to edit

  2. Click HTML editor in the toolbar   (if the edit button is grey, then the file manager does not recognize the file as one which can be edited)

  3. A box will appear with the message Please select the URL where this file will be served from:.  Unless you are a power-user looking for different options, click edit to continue.

  4. You now have access to the webpage or web page element within the file and can manipulate it as needed.

Permissions

Permissions should generally only be changed by power-users as it tells the servers how files are accessed.

To change permissions:

  1. Select the file or folder you wish to work with

  2. Click the permission icon

  3. A screen will appear with 3 types of access, 3 types of use groups and a permission code area.

Access types

  1. Read – files with read access (can be viewed by user)

  2. Write – Files with write access (can be edited by user)

  3. Execute – Files with execute access (can be launched as a program by user)

User groups

  1. User – Owner

  2. Group – files which are in the same group or folder

  3. World - Everyone

The permission code

These are the two main permission codes.

  • 644- Allows anyone to read the files but only the user can use the write function

  • 755 – File can be read or executed by anyone, but only the user can use the write function

Show hidden files

Are you looking for a file that begins with a dot (.)? These files are automatically hidden by File Manager as they are mostly useful to power users and can cause issues with your website if handled incorrectly.

  1. Click on settings  in the upper right-hand corner of the file manager

  2. Click the box next to show hidden files (dotfiles) so that a checkmark appears

  3. Click save

Now you will be able to view hidden dot files.

 
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