Keeping track of your disk usage is crucial for maintaining your website's performance and ensuring you don't exceed your hosting plan's storage limit. This guide will show you how to check disk usage using cPanel.
Understanding Disk Usage
The Disk Usage interface in cPanel provides a summary of your disk space usage. It displays information about:
- Files contained in your home directory.
- Files existing in hidden subdirectories.
- Mailing lists in Mailman.
- Files not contained in your home directory (see the 'Other Usage' bar).
The bars in the graph represent disk usage figures relative to the largest directory.
Accessing File Manager
You can click on any of the listed directories to open the appropriate subdirectory in the File Manager interface (cPanel >> Home >> Files >> File Manager). Please note that the File Manager interface does not display disk usage information for individual files contained in your home directory.
Understanding Discrepancies
There may be some discrepancies between the data displayed in the File Manager interface and the Disk Usage interface:
- Most files occupy slightly more disk space than their actual size. For example, a 300-byte file may occupy 4 KB of actual disk space.
- The disk space usage information does not indicate how much space the directory itself uses. Typically, directories themselves occupy a negligible amount of disk space.
- The system includes MySQL® database size and PostgreSQL® database size in an account’s disk usage calculation. However, the system does not enforce the account’s disk space quota limit if a database’s size causes the account to exceed its limit.
- The figures that the Disk Usage interface displays may not reflect recent changes in your account’s disk space.
Checking Disk Usage
To check your disk usage, log into your cPanel account and navigate to the Disk Usage section. Here, you'll see a graphical representation of your disk usage, broken down by directory. This allows you to see at a glance which directories are using the most space.
By regularly monitoring your disk usage, you can ensure that you're making the most of your available storage and maintaining optimal website performance.