How to set up a Web Disk (WebDAV) account in cPanel

cPanel’s Web Disk lets you connect to your hosting files as if they were a folder on your computer, using WebDAV. The best part is that you can create an extra account limited to a single folder, so you never have to hand out your main cPanel login. Here’s how to set it up on your shared hosting account.

Before you start

• Have your cPanel access ready.
• Decide which folder you want to share (for example, a documents folder inside public_html or outside of it).
• Decide whether the person needs to upload and delete files or only download them.
• If your domain already has an SSL certificate, you’ll use the secure connection with no extra steps.

Create the account

1. Log in to cPanel and open Web Disk in the Files section.

2. You’ll see the Main Web Disk Account section. Don’t share that account; use Create an Additional Web Disk Account instead.
3. In the form, type a Username.
4. Type a strong password in Password and Password (Again), or use the Password Generator.
5. Confirm the Domain cPanel shows next to the username.

Choose permissions and directory

1. Under Directory, set the exact folder the account can reach. If you point it to a subfolder, the account only sees that level and below.
2. Under Permissions, pick an option:
   • Read-Write: the person can upload, edit, and delete files inside the assigned folder.
   • Read-Only: the person can only list, open, and download files.
3. Leave Enable Digest Authentication off if your domain already has a signed SSL certificate. It’s only needed for certain Windows cases without SSL.
4. Click Create. cPanel should show a confirmation such as “You successfully created the Web Disk account.”

Configure client access

1. From the confirmation page or the account list, open Configure Client Access.
2. If cPanel detects your operating system, click the detected notice; you can also choose an option from the operating system menus.
3. Note Server Address, Username, and Port. For the secure connection, the port should be 2078 and SSL Enabled should show as enabled.
4. Pass these details to the person who will use the account, along with the password you set.

Verify the connection

• Connect with the additional account’s username and password using port 2078.
• Confirm that only the folder you assigned shows up, not the rest of the hosting.
• If the account is Read-Write, upload a test file and then delete it.
• If it’s Read-Only, check that you can download but not upload.

Common errors

• It won’t connect or keeps asking for the password: make sure you’re using the secure port 2078, the correct server address, and the current password; if it still fails, use Change Password in the account list and try again.
• It shows more folders than intended: the account points to a folder that’s too high. Remove it with Delete and recreate it pointing to the correct subfolder.
• It can’t upload files: the account was set to Read-Only. Create a new one with Read-Write for the folder it needs.

Recommended reading

• How to use File Manager in cPanel
• How to change file and folder permissions in cPanel File Manager
• How to protect a folder with Directory Privacy in cPanel