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What is cPanel? How to log in and use it

cPanel is the control panel that comes with many web hosting plans. From your browser, you manage your website’s files, domains, databases, email, SSL certificates, backups and PHP settings, without the command line. You log in at yourdomain.com/cpanel with the username and password from your welcome email.

Updated · HostUpIndia team

What cPanel is used for

cPanel runs on the hosting server and opens in your browser. Each task has its own tool on the home screen, and the search box at the top finds any of them.

  • Files: upload, edit and unzip them in File Manager. Your main website lives in public_html.
  • Domains: add domains and subdomains in Domains, and edit DNS records in Zone Editor.
  • Databases: create databases and users in Manage My Databases (MySQL Databases in older cPanel), and open their tables in phpMyAdmin.
  • Email: create addresses at your domain in Email Accounts, and read mail in Webmail.
  • SSL: check each domain’s certificate in SSL/TLS Status.
  • Backups: download or restore your files and databases in Backup, or in your host’s own backup tool.
  • PHP: pick the version in MultiPHP Manager and change limits such as memory_limit in MultiPHP INI Editor. Some hosts use Select PHP Version instead.

How to log in to cPanel

There are three usual ways in: yourdomain.com/cpanel, which forwards to the secure login page; https://yourdomain.com:2083, cPanel’s secure port; or the cPanel link in your host’s client area.

  • Find the cPanel username and password in your hosting welcome email.
  • Open https://yourdomain.com/cpanel, with your own domain in place of yourdomain.com.
  • Enter the username and password, then select Log in.
  • Change the password in Password & Security after your first login.

cPanel vs WHM

cPanel manages one hosting account: its websites, email and databases. WHM, or WebHost Manager, sits above it and manages a whole server or many cPanel accounts.

Server admins and resellers use WHM, usually on port 2087, to create accounts, set limits and open each client’s cPanel. For one business website, cPanel is all you need. Resellers: how to create a hosting package in WHM.

cPanel login not working?

Most failed logins come from the wrong address, the wrong username or a domain that does not reach the server yet.

  • Check the address: use https://, port 2083 and your own domain.
  • Use the cPanel username from your welcome email, not your email address.
  • Log in from your client area if your domain is new or has just moved. It may not point to your hosting yet: see how to connect a domain to your hosting.
  • Reset the cPanel password from your client area if you have lost it.
  • Wait a while after several wrong passwords. cPanel can block your IP address for a time after too many failed attempts.
  • Try cpanel.yourdomain.com, or another network, if yours blocks port 2083, as some office networks do.
  • Ask your host’s support, with the address you used and the error you see.

cPanel on HostUpIndia hosting

Every HostUpIndia Web & cPanel plan includes cPanel, LiteSpeed, NVMe storage, free SSL, terminal (SSH) access, the AI Website Builder and daily backups kept 30 days.

From ₹49 a month on 3-year billing. Prices exclude 18% GST. See Web & cPanel plans.

Moving from another host? HostUpIndia’s in-house team migrates your website free. Support tickets and email are received 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and WhatsApp is open for questions from 10 am to 7 pm IST, Monday to Saturday.

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