Knowledge Base

cPanel Basics,
Step By Step

Short guides for the things you'll do most in cPanel — logging in, email, files, databases, SSL and backups.

Beginner Friendly

Shared Hosting

cPanel

Getting Started

Do these four things first after buying a shared hosting plan.

Point Your Domain

Set your domain's nameservers to the ones in your EdgeHost welcome email. Changes can take up to 24 hours.

Log In To cPanel

Open the client area, go to My Services, select your hosting plan and click Login To cPanel.

Upload Your Website

Put your website files in the public_html folder using File Manager or FTP.

Turn On SSL

Once the domain points to us, the free SSL certificate is issued so your site opens on https.

cPanel Guides

Each guide starts from the cPanel home screen.

🔑

Logging In To cPanel

Two ways to reach your cPanel.

Client area → My Services → Login To cPanel
Or open yourdomain.com/cpanel in a browser
Use the username and password from your welcome email
Change the password from the client area if needed

✉️

Creating An Email Account

Get an address like [email protected].

Go to Email → Email Accounts
Click Create and choose the domain
Enter a username and a strong password
Open the mailbox with Check Email (Webmail)

📁

Uploading Files

Your live website lives in public_html.

Go to Files → File Manager
Open the public_html folder
Click Upload and select your files or a .zip
Right-click a .zip and choose Extract

🗄️

Creating A MySQL Database

Needed for WordPress and most PHP apps.

Go to Databases → MySQL Database Wizard
Name the database and click Next Step
Create a database user with a strong password
Tick All Privileges and finish

🌐

Adding A Subdomain

For addresses like blog.yourdomain.com.

Go to Domains → Domains
Click Create A New Domain
Enter the full subdomain name
Set its folder and click Submit

🔒

Checking SSL

Free SSL is issued automatically.

Go to Security → SSL/TLS Status
Check your domain shows a valid certificate
If not, click Run AutoSSL
The domain must already point to EdgeHost

🧭

Editing DNS Records

For mail, verification or external services.

Go to Domains → Zone Editor
Click Manage next to your domain
Add or edit A, CNAME, MX or TXT records
Changes can take a few hours to spread

💾

Taking A Backup

Keep your own copy before big changes.

Go to Files → Backup
Download a home directory backup for files
Download a MySQL database backup
Store them on your own computer

📊

Checking Disk Usage

See what's using your space.

Look at the Statistics panel on the right
Go to Files → Disk Usage for a breakdown
Delete old backups and unused files
Upgrade the plan from the client area if needed

Good To Know

Use a different strong password for cPanel, email and databases.

Files outside public_html are not visible on your website.

DNS and nameserver changes can take up to 24 hours worldwide.

Moving from another host? We do it free — see Migration Help.

Still Stuck?

Open a support ticket and our engineers will help you out.

Open A Ticket Contact Us

cPanel Basics,Step By Step