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Optimize and Free Up Hosting Disk Space

 

Disk space refers to the amount of space available on the server for storing the content of your website. Your website's content comprises images, databases, videos, files, pages, emails, etc. You have complete control over how your disk space is organized. Your website's files, including your logo, photos, blog posts, JavaScript, PHP, and CSS files, will be stored in this storage area. This means the disk space contains all publicly accessible information and the files required to run your website.

When you reach the limit, your site could be impacted by reduced performance as it loses the ability to expand or manage temporary data files necessary for site operation. This could even result in your website not functioning correctly or loading at all, inability to store received mail, etc.

If you want to check the amount of disk space used or how much bandwidth you use in your HostGator account, see this article: Viewing Disk Space and Bandwidth Usage for Shared Account.

The instructions below will show you where to find your account's Disk Space, MySQL Databases, and Inode Usage.

Disk Space

  1. Log in to cPanel.
  2. Navigate to the Files section, then click on the Disk Usage icon.

    cPanel Files Disk Usage

  3. The list of disk usage by directory and the total disk space will be available on the Disk Usage page.

    cPanel Disk Usage

  4. Take note of the directories that show high disk usage.

MySQL Databases

  1. In the Disk Usage page, scroll down to find MySQL listed under Location and click on it.

    cPanel Disk Usage MySQL

  2. Once you are redirected to the MySQL® Databases page, under Current Databases, there will be a list of all the databases in your account, along with the size of each one.

    cPanel Disk Usage MySQL

  3. Take note of what databases are the largest in file size.

Inode Usage

The number of inodes indicates the number of files and folders you have. This includes everything on your account: emails, files, folders, and anything you store on the server. How to find your inodes will depend on your hosting type; see this article, Inode Usage, for complete details.

Preventing Disk Usage Issues

Delete Files and Folders

Remove all files and folders that you don't need. Your hosting account should only have files and folders for your active website(s).

Before deleting any of your files and folders, create a backup. For detailed instructions on generating a full backup in cPanel, please see the article How to Generate & Download a Website Backup.

If you are approaching the maximum storage capacity, you can free up some space by removing files using File Manager via FTP.

Delete CMS Installation

Remove any CMS installations that you're no longer using. See How To Remove an Installation With Softaculous for more information.

Deleting old Backups

Remove old backups from your hosting account. Many WordPress backup plugins default to saving backups to your hosting account. Depending on the plugin's settings, see if you can change the backups to be stored in a third-party file storage location or locally on your computer. You will want to save any backups on your hosting account to your local computer and remove them from the server.

Are you looking for reliable daily automatic backups? CodeGuard offers complete protection and daily monitoring, so your website and data are safe.

Deleting or deactivating Plugins

If you are using WordPress, deactivate and delete any plugins that you are not using. You can use the following articles for more information:

Delete unused Media

Review any media used for your website and remove items that are no longer needed.

Delete email folder

If your inodes usage is high and you use HostGator's webmail, clean your email folders like junk/spam and trash. Email is a file that counts towards the inodes usage on your hosting account.

After making the following recommendation, and you still have an issue with your disk space, we highly recommend upgrading your plan. Need additional assistance in upgrading your plan? HostGator's support is here to help. Just reach out to us via phone or chat!