How to use the editors in cPanel's File Manager

This article describes how to use cPanel's editors to view and edit files directly on the web server.

The File Manager editors

When you edit a file using cPanel's File Manager, you can make immediate changes to your web site without the need to upload a new version of the file. cPanel has two editors that you can use to edit files directly on the web server:

  • A plain text editor for editing text files. This editor is intended for use with plain text files, such as configuration files.
  • An HTML Editor that is intended for use with HTML files. This editor provides WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) functionality. It provides many of the features that users of word processing programs are familiar with, such as spell check, formatting toolbars, and so on.

Additionally, if you just want to view a file's contents, you can do so without opening the file in an editor.

Viewing a file

You may not always need to edit a file. If you just want to take a quick look at a file's contents, you can view it without opening an editor.

To view a file in File Manager, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to cPanel.
    If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
  2. Open the File Manager:
    • If you are using the Jupiter theme, on the Tools page, in the Files section, click File Manager:

      cPanel - File Manager icon (Jupiter theme)

    • If you are using the Paper Lantern theme, in the FILES section of the cPanel home page, click File Manager:

      cPanel - File Manager icon

  3. In the File Manager main window, select the file that you want to view.
  4. Click the View icon:

    cPanel - File Manager - View icon

    The file's contents appear in a new page.

Editing a file using the plain text editor

To edit a plain text file, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to cPanel.
    If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
  2. Open the File Manager:
    • If you are using the Jupiter theme, on the Tools page, in the Files section, click File Manager:

      cPanel - File Manager icon (Jupiter theme)

    • If you are using the Paper Lantern theme, in the FILES section of the cPanel home page, click File Manager:

      cPanel - File Manager icon

  3. In the File Manager main window, select the file that you want to edit.
  4. Click the Edit icon:

    cPanel - File Manager - Edit icon

  5. Select the character set encoding that the file uses. The default is utf-8 (Unicode).

    Make sure that you select the correct character encoding for the file. Otherwise, the file may become corrupted.
  6. Click Edit. The file's contents appear in a new page, ready for editing.
  7. To save your changes, click Save Changes.

    If you do not want to save your changes, just close the page.
  8. To close the editor, click Close.

 

Editing a file using the HTML Editor

To edit a file by using the HTML Editor, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to cPanel.
    If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
  2. Open the File Manager:
    • If you are using the Jupiter theme, on the Tools page, in the Files section, click File Manager:

      cPanel - File Manager icon (Jupiter theme)

    • If you are using the Paper Lantern theme, in the FILES section of the cPanel home page, click File Manager:

      cPanel - File Manager icon

  3. In the File Manager main window, select the file that you want to edit.
  4. Click the HTML Editor icon:

    cPanel - File Manager - HTML Editor icon

  5. Select the character set encoding that the file uses. The default is utf-8 (Unicode).

    Make sure that you select the correct character encoding for the file. Otherwise, the file may become corrupted.
  6. Click Edit. The file's contents appear in a new page, ready for editing.
  7. To change the formatting, use the formatting toolbar. For example, you can change the font size and text alignment, add bulleted and numbered lists, and much more.
  8. To view the web page's HTML source code, click Source:

    cPanel - File Manager - HTML Editor - Source icon

  9. To preview the web page, click the preview icon:

    cPanel - File Manager - HTML Editor - Preview icon

  10. To save your changes, click the Save icon:

    cPanel - File Manager - HTML Editor - Save icon

Did you find this article helpful? Then you'll love our support. Experience the A2 Hosting difference today and get a pre-secured, pre-optimized website. Check out our web hosting plans today.

We use cookies to personalize the website for you and to analyze the use of our website. You consent to this by clicking on "I consent" or by continuing your use of this website. Further information about cookies can be found in our Privacy Policy.