File Manager lives right inside cPanel and covers most of what you'd otherwise need FTP software for — uploading, editing, and organising your website's files from a browser.
1. Open File Manager
From cPanel's home screen, click File Manager under Files. It opens directly into your account's file structure, usually starting in public_html.
2. Understand public_html
The public_html folder is your website's root — anything placed here is what visitors see when they load your domain. Subfolders inside it become paths, like yourdomain.com/blog.
3. Upload files
Click Upload, then drag files in or select them from your computer. For larger sites, compress everything into a single .zip file first — it uploads faster than hundreds of individual files.
4. Extract and compress archives
Right-click any .zip file and choose Extract to unpack it directly on the server, skipping the need to upload each file separately. The same menu lets you compress folders back into an archive.
Key takeaway: Always upload a .zip and extract it on the server rather than uploading hundreds of individual files — it's dramatically faster on typical Ghanaian internet connections.
5. Edit files directly
Right-click any text-based file (HTML, PHP, CSS) and choose Edit to open cPanel's built-in code editor — useful for a quick fix without downloading and re-uploading the whole file.
6. Set file permissions
Right-click a file or folder and choose Permissions to adjust who can read, write, or execute it. Most files should stay at 644 and folders at 755 unless a specific app instructs otherwise.
7. Show hidden files
Files starting with a dot, like .htaccess, are hidden by default. Click Settings in the top-right corner and tick "Show Hidden Files" to reveal them when you need to edit one.