title: File Manager created at: Fri Oct 18 2024 09:03:16 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) updated at: Sat Feb 08 2025 14:21:42 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) --- # File Manager # Overview cPanel organizes all the files in your account into folders. Use the *File Manager* interface to manage and edit your files. !! Note !! Whenever you access a folder that contains a Git repository, we **strongly** recommend that you do **not** update any files or directories. Changes could cause serious problems with the repository, regardless of whether you created it in the [*Git Version Control*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/git-version-control) interface (*cPanel » Home » Files » Git\_\_ Version Control*). !! When a toolbar action **isn’t** available, the icon displays in grey. !! You can **only** use certain *File Manager* actions with **one** file at a time. Select the desired file **before** you attempt these actions. !! Any attempt to rename, edit, or view multiple files at the same time will **only** affect the first listed file in the folder. # Change Settings To change the folder in which the *File Manager* interface opens, perform the following steps: 1. Click *Settings*. The *Preferences* interface will appear. 2. Select a folder to open by default: * *Home Directory* — The main folder for your account. * *Web Root (public\_html or www)* — The most direct route to your files. * *Public FTP Root (public\_ftp)* — The folder for your FTP files. * *Document Root for:* — The folder for the domain that you select from the menu. 3. To display hidden files in the interface, select *Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)*. 4. To prevent messages about character encodings from displaying, select *Disable Character Encoding Verification Dialogs*. 5. Click *Save*. ## Character encoding verification dialogs When you edit a file with the *Edit* or *HTML Editor* actions, an interface appears to confirm the file’s character encoding. Use the menu to select the correct character encoding for the file. Then, click *Edit* to continue. * Click *Toggle Help* for more information about how to select the correct character encoding. * Click *Disable Encoding Check* to turn off future encoding verifications. !! Important Notice !! If you select the wrong initial encoding, your file may become corrupt. If your file displays as a series of special characters, **immediately** abort your action and select the correct encoding. **Do not save the file**. # Working with files and folders The *File Manager* interface allows you to perform many actions on your files and folders. ## Create or copy files or folders To create a new file or folder, perform the following steps: 1. Click *+ File* or *+ Folder* in the toolbar. A new interface will appear. 2. Enter the new item’s name in the *New File Name:* or *New Folder Name:* text box. !! Note\ To rename a folder or file, click the name. Then, enter the new name in the text box. Press the *Return* key to save the change. 1. Enter the location in which the system will create the item in the *New file will be created in:* or *New folder will be created in:* text box. 2. Click *Create New File* or *Create New Folder*. To copy one or more files, perform the following steps: 1. Select the files you want to copy. !! Note\ You **cannot** create a copy of an item within the same folder. 1. Click *Copy* from the toolbar at the top of the interface. The *Copy* interface will appear. !! Note\ You can also right-click and select *Copy* from the menu. 1. In the *Copy* interface, enter the file path for which you want to save the item in the *Enter the file path that you want to copy this file to:* text box. 2. Click *Copy File(s)* to copy the files. To copy a folder that contains files, perform the following steps: 1. Select the folder that you want to copy. 2. Use your preferred file compression application to compress the folder. !! Note\ How you compress your folder will be based on your OS. For example, in macOS 11.5, right-click the folder icon and select the `Compress "Folder"` option. 1. Click *Upload* from the toolbar and upload the compressed file by either dragging and dropping it or using the *Select File* button. 2. Now that your folder appears in the *File Manager* interface, select it and click the *Extract* in the toolbar in the top of the interface. This will extract your folder. ## Move files or folders To move one or more files, perform the following steps: 1. Select the file or files that you want to move. 2. Click *Move* in the toolbar at the top of the interface. The *Move* interface will appear. 3. Enter the file path that you want to move the file to in the *Enter the file path that you want to move this file to:* text box. 4. Click *Move File(s)* to move the file. You can also move files by: * Dragging a file icon into a new destination folder. * Clicking on a file and then clicking *Rename* in the toolbar. ## Update file or folder permissions To modify a file or folder’s permissions, perform the following steps: 1. Select the file or folder for which to change the permissions. 2. From the toolbar, click *Permissions*. The *Change Permissions* interface will appear. 3. Use the checkboxes or text boxes to change the item’s permissions. This setting defaults to `0644`. 4. Click *Change Permissions* to save your changes. ## Delete or restore files and folders !! Note !! When you delete files or folders, the system does **not** permanently delete the files. Instead, the system moves the files to the *Trash* folder. !! Click *Empty Trash* to permanently delete the *Trash* folder’s contents. To delete a file or folder, perform the following steps: 1. Select the file or folder you want to delete. 2. In the toolbar, click *Delete*. The *Trash* interface will appear. 3. Click *Confirm* to confirm that you want to delete the file or folder. To restore a file or folder, perform the following steps: 1. Click *View Trash* from the toolbar. 2. Select the file or folder that you want to restore. 3. Click *Restore* in the toolbar. 4. Confirm that you want to restore the item. # Other item actions !! Note !! The *Compress* and *Extract* actions will **only** work with the `.zip` format if Zip exists on your server. Your hosting provider can use WHM’s [*EasyApache 4*](https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/software/easyapache-4-interface) interface (*WHM » Home » Software » EasyApache 4*) to install this [PHP extension](https://docs.cpanel.net/ea4/php/php-options/#current-php-extensions) . Right-click files or folders to select from a menu of actions that the system customizes based on the file’s type. | Feature | Displays for | Description | | ------------------ | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | *Upload* | Files | Upload individual items, such as files or images.<br />!! Note<br />!! You **cannot** upload a folder through this interface. Create a new folder and upload the desired files into it. | | *Download* | Files | Download files to save them locally. | | *Rename* | Files, Compressed Files, Folders | Rename the file or folder. | | *Edit* | Files | Open the selected file in an editor.<br />!! Warning<br />!! You **cannot** edit a file in this interface if it contains more than one megabyte (1 MB) of data. To edit the file, you **must** download it and use a local editor. | | *HTML Editor* | Files | Open the selected HTML file in a visual [HTML editor](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/html-editor) .<br />!! Warning<br />!! You **cannot** edit a file in this interface if it contains more than one megabyte (1 MB) of data. To edit the file, you **must** download it and use a local editor. | | *View* | Files | View the contents of the selected file. | | *Extract* | Compressed Files | Extract the selected `*.zip`, `*.Gz`, or `*.Bz2` archive and store the files in a folder. | | *Compress* | Files, Compressed Files, Folders | Compress the selected files or folders to a single `*.zip`, `*.Gz`, or `*.Bz2` archive and store the compressed file to a specified folder. | | *Password Protect* | Folders | Set a username and password to restrict access to a folder.<br />!! Note<br />!! Your hosting provider must enable this feature. | | *Leech Protection* | Folders | Redirect users who have shared the password to a restricted area of your site. The system will redirect accounts that exceed a set number of logins in a two hour period to a selected URL, or receive an internal server error message.<br />!! Note<br />!! Your hosting provider must enable this feature. | | *Manage Indices* | Folders | Customize the way users view a folder on the web.<br />!! Note<br />!! Your hosting provider must enable this feature. | ## 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 `/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: 1. 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* 2. Enter the desired file name in the text box. 3. 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.