How to Use cPanel: A Guide for Website Owners
cPanel is the world’s most widely used web hosting control panel, and that works in your favour. Because so many hosting companies run it, learning how to use cPanel once means you can manage a website almost anywhere. It also keeps you flexible: if you ever move to a new host, your websites, email accounts and databases can come across with you rather than being rebuilt from scratch.
If your site is hosted with Tekwizard, cPanel is where you manage almost everything behind the scenes: email accounts, files, backups, statistics, domains and security. This guide covers the tasks most website owners actually need, and links to the official cPanel documentation whenever you want the full detail.
Logging in to cPanel
Open yourdomain.com.au/cpanel in your browser (or yourdomain.com.au:2083). Sign in with the account username and password from your Tekwizard welcome email — not your email address. An email address and mailbox password are for webmail; they take you to a single inbox rather than to cPanel itself.
After you log in you land on the Tools page: every feature grouped into tiles — Email, Files, Databases, Metrics, Domains, Security and more. You can always click Tools in the sidebar to return here.
Full reference: Getting Started in cPanel →
Managing email
Under Email › Email Accounts you can see every mailbox on your domain, how much space each is using, and buttons to check mail or manage a mailbox.
How to create a new email account
- Go to Email › Email Accounts and click + Create.
- Enter the part before the
@in Username (for exampleinfoorsales). - Set a password — use Generate for a strong one and save it somewhere safe.
- Leave Storage Space at the default, or set a limit.
- Click Create. The mailbox is ready straight away.
Connecting it to your phone or email program
Back on the Email Accounts list, click Connect Devices next to any mailbox. cPanel shows the incoming and outgoing server names and ports you type into Apple Mail, Outlook or your phone — or you can use one of the automatic setup links.
To read mail in a browser without setting up an app, see our guide to using webmail. If you are running low on space, our post on archiving old emails to free up storage walks through it.
Full reference: Email Accounts → · The Webmail Interface →
Files and backups
The Files group holds File Manager (browse and edit your website files), Disk Usage, FTP Accounts and the backup tools.
In Backup you can download a full account backup or just your home directory. Tekwizard keeps server-level backups as well, but a copy of your own before any big change is always wise.
Disk Usage breaks down what is taking up space, folder by folder — handy when an account is filling up.
Checking your site statistics
The Metrics group reports on your traffic: Visitors and Awstats for visitor numbers, Errors for broken links and server errors, and Bandwidth for data transfer against your plan.
Domains
The Domains interface lists every domain and subdomain on your account, its document root, and whether it forces HTTPS. This is also where you add a new domain or set up a redirect.
Security essentials
Open Security › SSL/TLS Status. Every domain should show a green padlock and “AutoSSL Domain Validated” — that means the free certificate that encrypts your site is in place and renewing automatically. If anything shows a warning, contact us.
Password & Security is where you change your cPanel account password. Use a long, unique password and update it if you ever suspect it has been shared.
Full reference: SSL/TLS Status →
Databases — look, don’t touch
The Databases group contains phpMyAdmin and MySQL Databases. Your website’s content is stored in a database here, so it is worth knowing where it lives — but unless you know exactly what you are doing, don’t edit tables directly. One wrong change can take the whole site offline. Take a backup first, and get in touch if you are unsure.
Databases are not included with the Starter hosting package. If you don’t see the Databases group in your cPanel, that is why.
Managing WordPress
If your site runs WordPress, WordPress Management (WP Toolkit) is the easiest place to look after it. From one screen you can see your WordPress and PHP versions, install core and plugin updates, log in to the admin area in one click, and roll back to a restore point.
How to use cPanel safely
A few habits keep how to use cPanel a low-stress skill:
- Change the password from your welcome email to something strong, and never share your login.
- Take a backup before any significant change.
- Stick to the tools above. Server-level settings you don’t recognise are best left alone.
- When something looks wrong — a missing certificate, an account filling up, an error you don’t understand — contact Tekwizard support rather than guessing.
cPanel® is a registered trademark of cPanel, L.L.C. Tekwizard is not affiliated with or endorsed by cPanel, L.L.C. Screenshots show Tekwizard’s cPanel environment and may differ slightly from your account.
