Sharing your main cPanel password with staff or freelancers is risky: they get access to everything, and you cannot tell who changed what. User Manager creates sub-accounts, one per person, each with one password for just the services they need: email, FTP and Web Disk.
Before you start
- Decide what each person needs. Sub-accounts cannot log in to the full cPanel interface; they cover mailbox, file transfer and Web Disk access.
- For developers who need cPanel tools such as databases, consider temporary access with a strong password you change afterwards, or let them work via FTP and SSH keys.
Create a sub-account
- Open cPanel → Preferences → User Manager.
- Click + Add User.
- Fill in Full Name, Username and Domain. The login becomes
username@domain. - Enter a Contact Email Address outside the account, if possible.
- Under Security Information, either set a password or tick The user will set the password to send an invitation email so they choose it themselves.
- Under Services, enable what they need:
- Email: creates a mailbox with a quota you choose.
- FTP: choose the home directory and quota. Limit it to the folder they work on, e.g.
public_html/blog. - Web Disk: mount the folder as a network drive; choose read-write or read-only.
- Click Create.
Tip: Invitations expire after a few days. If the person misses it, edit the user and resend the invite.
How sub-account users log in
| Service | Where |
|---|---|
Webmail at yourdomain.com:2096 or any email app; see email settings | |
| FTP | FileZilla with username@domain; see FileZilla guide |
| Web Disk | Connection details shown in cPanel → Files → Web Disk |
One password covers all enabled services. When the user changes it in webmail, it changes everywhere.
Link existing accounts
If you already created a mailbox and an FTP account with the same name, User Manager shows a Link option to merge them into one sub-account with a single password. Click Link in the list and confirm.
Edit, suspend or remove
- Click Edit to change services, quotas or the password.
- To stop access temporarily, disable the services in Edit; mail is kept.
- Click Delete when someone leaves. Choose whether to delete only the login or also the mailbox and FTP data.
Troubleshooting
- User cannot log in to cPanel: that is expected; sub-accounts only use the enabled services.
- Invitation email not received: check spam, or set the password yourself and share it safely.
- FTP shows the wrong folder: edit the FTP home directory in User Manager.