How to upload a file using the File Manager

You may want to upload your files directly through cPanel. You can do this through the File Manager.

File Manager is a web interface that allows you to manage all the files associated with your account.

Note: There is a 500 MB upload limit through File Manager. If you need to upload a larger file, please use FTP.


cPanel's File Manager may look slightly different depending on which version of cPanel your server is running, however, the functionality described in the video is the same.

How to Upload a File using File Manager

To upload a file through cPanel's File Manager, please do the following:

  1. Login to cPanel and click File Manager
  2. Choose to open Web Root and Show hidden files
  3. At the top, click Upload.
  4. Click the Browse button.
  5. Double click the file you want to upload to your site.
  6. Wait for the blue bar to complete, then go back to File Manager.

You have successfully uploaded a file to your site through file manager.

Once I upload a file, how will I know the URL?

So, you want to share the new web file with friends or the public. First you need to determine the path of the file.

  1. Login to FTP or File Manager and note the parent folder where your file is stored (normally public_html).
  2. Double click the folder icon to navigate inside public_html.
  3. If you see the file here, you are done. If you need to navigate inside more folders to find your file, note each folder. (Folder names are case-sensitive, so you must use the exact capitalization and spelling.)
  4. Once you locate your file, you should have noted the full path (a list of the folders you must go inside, respectively, to find that file).
  5. Now simply add the file name, exactly as it appears, to the end of the path. (File names are case-sensitive, so you must use the exact capitalization and spelling.)

    Here are some examples:
    public_html/My_Book.pdf
    public_html/images/banner25x120.JPG
    public_html/blog/includes/Movies/bigjump.avi

  6. Almost there! Now you just need to replace "public_html" with http and your primary domain name.

    Same examples:
    http://primarydomain.com/My_Book.pdf
    http://primarydomain.com/images/banner25x120.JPG
    http://primarydomain.com/blog/includes/Movies/bigjump.avi

  7. Try to browse these URL's and you will see the file you uploaded.

This can even be done for addon and subdomains. Just replace thepublic_html/subfolder/ part with the addon or subdomain name.

Let's pretend my addon domain is myblogdomain.com. Let's pretend the document root for that domain is my blog subfolder (inside public_html of course).

A path like public_html/blog/includes/Movies/bigjump.avi would becomehttp://myblogdomain.com/includes/Movies/bigjump.avi

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