---
title: "How to Upload Files via the cPanel File Manager"
description: "Upload files to public_html in your browser with the cPanel File Manager, overwrite existing files, and upload a whole site as a zip archive to extract."
url: "https://docs.noiz.ie/cpanel/how-to-upload-files-via-the-cpanel-file-manager/"
section: "cPanel"
categories:
  - "Control Panels > cPanel > Files"
last_reviewed: "27 July 2026, against the current cPanel & WHM release with the **Jupiter** interface"
---

# How to Upload Files via the cPanel File Manager

The cPanel File Manager lets you upload files to your hosting account straight from your web browser, with no separate FTP program to install or configure. It is the quickest way to add a page, a logo, a configuration file, or a whole website archive to your account. This guide shows you how to do it on your Noiz cPanel hosting.

**Last reviewed:** 27 July 2026, against the current cPanel & WHM release with the **Jupiter** interface. This guide is written for Noiz hosting and is kept current against cPanel. It complements, and does not replace, the official cPanel documentation linked below.

### Official Documentation Reference

- [cPanel File Manager](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/file-manager/) (feature overview)
- [Upload files in File Manager](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/files/file-manager/#upload)

## Prerequisites

- An active Noiz cPanel hosting account and your cPanel login details.
- The file or files you want to upload, ready on your computer.
- An idea of where the files belong. For your main website this is the `public_html` directory; subdomains and addon domains have their own document roots.

## Upload a File in cPanel File Manager

**1.** Log in to your cPanel account.

**2.** In the **Files** section of the cPanel home screen, click **File Manager**.

![The File Manager icon in the cPanel Files section](/img/filemanager-icon.gif)

**3.** In File Manager, navigate to the directory you want to upload into. To publish files to your main website, open the `public_html` directory. In the directory list on the left, double click **public\_html**.

![The cPanel File Manager directory sidebar with the public_html folder selected](/img/filemanager-sidebar.gif)

**4.** With the destination directory open, click **Upload** in the toolbar at the top. This opens the upload page in a new browser tab.

![The Upload button in the cPanel File Manager toolbar](/img/upload-icon-filemanager.gif)

**5.** Click **Select File** and choose the file you want to upload from your computer, then click **Open**. The upload begins straight away and a progress bar shows how far it has got. You can also drag and drop files from your computer directly onto the upload area. When every file reads 100%, the upload is complete and you can close the tab and return to File Manager.

![The cPanel File Manager upload page with the Select File button and drag-and-drop area](/img/brows-filemanager.gif)

## Tips and Troubleshooting

- **Overwriting existing files:** if a file of the same name already exists in the folder, tick **Overwrite existing files** on the upload page before you upload. Without it, cPanel adds a number to the new file name instead of replacing the old one.
- **Uploading a whole site at once:** the File Manager uploads individual files, not folders. To move a large site or a folder tree, compress it into a single `.zip` on your computer, upload the archive, then select it in File Manager and click **Extract** to unpack it in place.
- **Maximum upload size:** browser uploads have a size limit, shown as **Maximum file size allowed for upload** on the upload page. For very large files that exceed it, use SFTP or, on a managed plan, ask Noiz support to place the file for you.
- **Nothing appears on your website:** confirm you uploaded into the correct document root. Files must sit inside `public_html` (or the relevant subdomain or addon domain folder) to be served, and your home page usually needs to be named `index.html` or `index.php`.
- **Hidden files such as `.htaccess`:** if you cannot see a dotfile after uploading, click **Settings** in the top right of File Manager and enable **Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)**.

If an upload keeps failing or a file will not appear where you expect it, Noiz support can check the account and place the files for you. Open a ticket from your [Noiz client area](https://www.noiz.co.za/clientarea.php) and include the file name and the folder it should live in.

---
Source: https://docs.noiz.ie/cpanel/how-to-upload-files-via-the-cpanel-file-manager/