Overview
Disk usage provides a detailed overview of how the storage space in your account is distributed.
This tool helps you to:
See how much storage space is used
Identify folders that use a lot of disk space
Find large files and directories
Manage the storage quota in your account
Troubleshoot issues related to missing disk space
When you finish this guide, you will know how to use the Disk Use tool in cPanel.
Important information
⚠️ If you receive the message:
"Write failed: disk quota exceeded"
The account has reached the maximum storage capacity.
When the quota is used up:
You can't upload new files
You can't create new files
Some backups may fail
Website or email services may experience problems
If you need more storage space, you need to upgrade your hosting package.
Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure you:
Have access to cPanel
Are logged into cPanel
Have Disk Use Available in Account
Step 1: Log in to cPanel
If your hosting service supports direct login to cPanel, you can log in via the client area.
This is how you do it:
Find your hosting service under active products/services
Click Log in on cPanel
You now are automatically logged into cPanel
Step 2: Open Disk Usage
To open the overview of disk use:
Find the Files section and click on Disk Usage
The system now opens a detailed overview of the disk consumption in the account.
Step 3: Review the disk usage overview
At the top of the page, you can see an overview of how the storage is used.
Disk usage shows, among other things:
Files in the Home Directory (Home Directory)
Hidden folders and files
Email-related files
Files outside the home directory
This makes it easier to identify which areas use the most storage space.
Step 4: Identify folders that use a lot of space
During the disk overview, a graphical representation of the disk consumption is displayed.
Each line represents a folder or directory in the account.
The length of the bars is relative to the largest folder that appears in the overview.
Folders with long bars use more storage space than folders with short bar.
💡 Tip: Always start by examining the largest folders if you need to free up storage space.
Step 5: Open folders in File Manager
If you want to examine the contents of a folder more closely, click on the folder name in the Disk Usage overview:
The system now opens the appropriate folder directly in File Manager:
Here you can:
View the contents of the folder
Delete unnecessary files
Move files to other locations
Download files for local storage
Step 6: Free up storage space
If your account approaches the storage limit, you can free up space by:
Delete old backups
Remove unused files
Empty the Recycle Bin in File Manager
Delete old emails and attachments
Remove old log files
⚠️ Be careful when deleting files. Always make sure that your files are not used by your website or email accounts.
Troubleshooting
I get the message "Write failed: disk quota exceeded"
This means that the account has used up all available storage space.
To solve the problem, you can:
Delete unnecessary files
Remove old backups
Empty the trash
Upgrade your hosting package
Disk Usage shows numbers other than File Manager
This is normal.
Disk usage actually calculates storage consumption on the server, while File Manager mainly displays file sizes.
In addition:
Files often use a little more disk space than the actual file size
Databases may be included in the disk calculation
Recent changes may take some time before they appear in the report
I've deleted files, but the disk consumption hasn't changed
Disk Usage does not always update immediately.
Wait a few minutes and load the page again to see updated numbers.
The account appears to use more space than expected
Check the following:
Hidden files and folders
Old backups
Email accounts with large attachments
Log Files
Databases
These areas are often the cause of high disk consumption.
Summary
You have now learned how to use Disk Usage in cPanel.
By monitoring disk consumption regularly, you can identify large files and folders, free up storage space and avoid problems associated with your account reaching their storage limit.