Use Disk Usage in cPanel to identify which parts of your hosting account occupy the most storage. This guide explains how to find large directories, review their contents and free up space.
Who is this guide for?
This guide applies exclusively to customers whose hosting is managed on the new Webland platform (WHMCS) and whose hosting plan includes cPanel.
Essential Hosting without cPanel: This guide does not apply to your hosting.
Previous platform using System Configurator or Domain Manager: Sign in at classic.webland.ch. The steps below do not apply to that platform.
Important information
The message “Write failed: disk quota exceeded” indicates that the storage quota available for the write operation has been exhausted.
As a result:
File uploads and saving new files may fail.
Backups may not complete.
Website features or email services may be affected.
You can free up space by removing content you no longer need. If you regularly need more storage, contact Webland Support about upgrading your hosting plan.
Requirements
Before you begin, make sure you:
Have access to your cPanel hosting service.
Can open Disk Usage.
Step 1: Sign in to cPanel
Find your hosting service in the active services overview in the client area.
Click “Log in to cPanel”.
You will be signed in to cPanel automatically.
Step 2: Open Disk Usage
Open the “Files” section in cPanel and click “Disk Usage”.
The overview displays your hosting account’s storage usage.
Step 3: Review storage usage
Compare the displayed sizes of the different areas. These may include:
Website files and other content in the home directory.
Hidden files and directories.
Email data.
Databases.
Other files associated with the account outside the home directory.
The bars show usage relative to the largest displayed directory. A long bar therefore does not automatically mean that your hosting quota is exhausted.
For overall usage and your available quota, also check “Statistics” on the cPanel homepage.
Step 4: Investigate large directories
Find a directory with high storage usage.
Click its linked name.
The directory opens in File Manager.
Review its files, their sizes and any subdirectories.
Old backup archives, large media files and extensive log files are common sources of high storage usage.
Note: Moving files to another directory within the same hosting account does not free up space.
Step 5: Remove unnecessary content
First identify content you no longer need. For example, you can:
Download old backups and remove them from your hosting after checking the local copy.
Delete unnecessary files or archives.
Remove unwanted emails through webmail or your email application.
Clean up old log files after consulting your website developer.
Only remove content whose purpose you understand. Do not manually delete email system files or database files in File Manager.
Important: Files in Trash still use storage. Review Trash and empty it only when you want to permanently remove its contents. Afterwards, those files cannot be restored through Trash.
Deleted emails may also continue using space while they remain in the email Trash folder.
Step 6: Check storage usage again
After cleaning up, reopen “Disk Usage” and refresh the page.
Updates may take some time to appear. If the figures initially remain unchanged, check again later.
Troubleshooting
I deleted files, but no space has been freed
First check Trash in File Manager and, where applicable, the Trash folders in your email accounts. Then allow time for the usage display to update.
File Manager and Disk Usage show different figures
A file’s size can differ from the space it actually occupies on disk. Account usage also includes other areas, such as databases. Different update times can cause further discrepancies.
My account uses more storage than expected
Check hidden directories, backup archives, email accounts, log files and databases. If you cannot identify the cause, contact Webland Support.
The “disk quota exceeded” message persists
If write errors continue after you have freed up space, send Webland Support the exact error message and identify the affected hosting service.