title: Web Disk
created at: Fri Oct 18 2024 09:06:13 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
updated at: Sat Feb 08 2025 14:21:32 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
---
# Web Disk
# Overview
Use the *Web Disk* interface to create a Web Disk account to manage, navigate, upload, and download the files on your web server. The Web Disk management system allows you to use the [Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebDAV) protocol to manage files remotely.
WebDAV is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol that allows users to collaborate while editing and managing files remotely on web servers. One reason to use this file management system instead of [FTP](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/ftp-accounts/) , [File Manager](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/file-manager/) , or [Git](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/gitweb/) is to create a separate user account to avoid providing any cPanel access.
# Main Web Disk Account
By default, the system creates a Web Disk account for your cPanel account and sets your home directory as the Web Disk location. This account uses the same login information as your cPanel account and can access all of the files in your home directory. You **cannot** delete this Web Disk account.
* To access this account’s files, use the [*File Manager*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/file-manager) interface (*cPanel » Home » Files » File Manager*).
* To view login details for the Web Disk account or download a configuration script, click *Configure Client Access*.
* If you use Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, click *Enable Digest Authentication* to enable Digest Authentication, or click *Disable Digest Authentication* to disable it. For more information, read the [Web Disk and Digest Authentication](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/web-disk/#web-disk-and-digest-authentication) section below.
* For more information about how to connect third-party software with your Web Disk account, read our [Connect to Web Disk with Third-Party Software](https://docs.cpanel.net/knowledge-base/third-party/connect-to-web-disk-with-third-party-software) documentation.
# Create An Additional Web Disk Account
To create an additional *Web Disk* account, perform the following steps in the *Create an Additional Web Disk Account* section:
1. Enter the desired username in the *Username* text box.
2. If your account includes more than one domain or subdomain you can select a domain or subdomain from the *Domain* menu.
3. Enter and confirm the new password in the appropriate text boxes. The system evaluates the password that you enter on a scale of 100 points. 0 indicates a weak password, while 100 indicates a very secure password. You can also click *Password Generator* to generate a strong password. For more information, read our [Password & Security](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/preferences/password-and-security) documentation.
!! Note\
Some web hosts require a minimum password strength. A green password *Strength* meter indicates that the password is equal to or greater than the required password strength.
!! Warning\
The password **must** contain at least five characters.
1. Enter the Web Disk account’s home directory in the *Directory* text box:
* The house icon
represents the cPanel account’s home directory.
```
- The _Directory_ text box defines the new Web Disk account’s top level of directory access, relative to the cPanel account’s home directory.
- The system automatically populates this text box with `public_html/username`, where `username` represents what you entered in the _Username_ text box.
```
1. Select a *Permissions* setting:
* *Read-Write* — This setting grants this account access to all of the operations inside the directory.
* *Read-Only* — This setting only grants this account access to read, download, and list the files inside the directory.
2. If you use Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, select the *Enable Digest Authentication* checkbox.
!! Note\
Do **not** enable Digest Authentication if the domain uses a signed SSL certificate. For more information, read the [Web Disk and Digest Authentication](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/web-disk/#web-disk-and-digest-authentication) section below.
1. Click *Create*. A new interface will appear.
* To return to the main interface, click *Go Back*.
* To view setup instructions for your new Web Disk account, click *Configure Client Access*.
# Manage Additional Web Disk Accounts
The *Manage Additional Web Disk Accounts* table displays the following information for all of the additional Web Disk accounts that you create:
* *Account* — The Web Disk account username.
* *Directory* — The Web Disk account’s assigned directory and related actions.
* Click the directory name to open the assigned directory in cPanel’s [*File Manager*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/file-manager) interface (*cPanel* » *Home* » *Files* » *File Manager*).
* Click the edit icon
```
to change the account’s assigned directory.
- Click the lock icon
```
```
to use cPanel’s [_Directory Privacy_](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/directory-privacy) interface (_cPanel_ » _Home_ » _Files_ » _Directory Privacy_) to password protect the directory, create a user to access the directory, or remove a user from the directory.
```
!! Note\
Password protection does **not** control Web Disk access to a directory. Instead, perform this action to protect the files that you upload to a publicly accessible directory on your account with a password. If you choose to password-protect a Web Disk directory, you **must** create a user to access that directory.
* *Actions* — Use the links in this column to perform the following actions:
* Click *Configure Client Access* to view login details for the Web Disk account.
* For certain devices, you can also click *Download Configuration Script* to download a device configuration script. For more information, read our [Connect to Web Disk with Third-Party Software](https://docs.cpanel.net/knowledge-base/third-party/connect-to-web-disk-with-third-party-software) documentation.
* Click *Enable Digest Authentication* and follow the prompts to enable Digest Authentication. For more information, read the [Web Disk and Digest Authentication](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/web-disk/#web-disk-and-digest-authentication) section below.
* Click *Change Password* to change the Web Disk account password.
* Click *Delete* and follow the prompts to delete the Web Disk account.
* Click a permissions setting to change the account’s permissions:
* *Set Read-Write* — This setting grants this account access to all of the operations inside the directory.
* *Set Read-Only* — This setting only grants this account access to read, download, and list the files inside the directory.
# Access a Web Disk account without cPanel
To log in to a Web Disk account without cPanel access, ensure that the connecting computer’s firewalls allow access to port `2078`. Then, [connect your Web Disk account to its web server](https://docs.cpanel.net/knowledge-base/third-party/connect-to-web-disk-with-third-party-software/) to enable remote access.
# Web Disk and Digest Authentication
When you change the usernames of Web Disk accounts that use Digest Authentication, you **must** reenable it. The `/etc/digestshadow` file stores the usernames of Web Disk accounts that use Digest Authentication in a password hash. When you change the account username, the system removes the password from the file.
!! Important
!! Updates to a Web Disk account’s associated domain **also** change the account’s username and will **disable** Digest Authentication.
!! Note
!! You **must** enable Digest Authentication if you use Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 and you access Web Disk over a clear text, unencrypted connection. You do not need to enable Digest Authentication if you meet the following conditions:
!! The domain has an SSL certificate that a recognized certificate authority signed.
!! You can connect to a Web Disk with SSL over a port `2078`.
!! If you use Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 2003, you may experience errors when you attempt to connect to your Web Disk account. These operating systems require a patch that Microsoft no longer offers, and it no longer supports these operating systems.
!! If you use Windows 7, a discrepancy may exist between the amount of disk space that the system reports and the actual available disk space. This happens because the WebDAV protocol, which *Web Disk* uses, cannot query a server’s disk capacity. For more information, read Microsoft Support’s [article about this problem](https://web.archive.org/web/20141121201544/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2386902) .