Accessing Your Files through the File Manager

Web hosting is, at its basic core, files and folders on a computer that is connected to the internet and setup to distribute them. Your LSU cPanel includes a File Manager that allows you to interact directly with the files stored in your web hosting account. This can be useful if you want to upload software that cannot be automatically installed via the Web Applications section of your cPanel, if you need to change the name or permissions of a file or group or files, or if you want to edit a plain text file. To access your files via the File Manager, use these steps:

1. Login to lsusites.org with your LSU username and password.
2. Once logged in, you’ll be on the homepage of your cPanel. Find the File Manager icon under the Files section, and click.
3. On the left side of the “File Manager” window, you’ll see a navigation menu containing the file structure of your web hosting account. More information about the contents of these files and folders can be found in the File Structures and the File Manager documentation article.
   
4. In the navigation menu, choose the public_html directory. This will take you directly to the folder that contains the files associated with your website(s). Click on the name of the folder to view all of its contents in the file browser on the right side of the page.
   
5. To select an item, click once on its icon in the file browser. You can also use the “Select All” button above the file browser.
6. Depending on what you have selected, different options will be available to you in the action menu across the top of your file manager. For example, if you have selected a folder, you can rename it or Change Permissions on it.
   
7. If you know exactly what location you want to skip to within your web hosting account, you can type it into the box directly above the navigation menu and click Go.
8. Alternatively, if you know the exact name of the file or folder you are looking for, but not its location, you can use the Search box to find it.