When managing your website on a cPanel-based hosting account, one of the most common issues you might encounter is the “Disk Quota Exceeded” error. This error means your hosting account has reached its allocated disk space limit and it can prevent your website from functioning properly, stop emails from sending or receiving, and even block backups from running.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll explain what causes this issue, how to identify what’s taking up space, and how to resolve it without needing technical support. Let’s get started.

What Does “Disk Quota Exceeded” Actually Mean?

When you purchase a web hosting plan, you’re allocated a certain amount of storage space on the server. This disk space covers everything inside your hosting account, including:

• Files that make up your website (HTML, PHP, images, etc.)
• Databases (like MySQL used for WordPress)
• Emails stored on the server
• Log files, temporary data, and cache
• Backup files (if stored within your hosting account)

When you exceed this allocated storage limit, the system stops you from writing more data. That means you may encounter issues like:

• Website errors or white screens
• Inability to upload media files to WordPress
• Email sending/receiving failure due to mailbox overage
• Failed website backups

Let’s fix it.

Step 1: Log into Your cPanel Account

To begin, log into your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard. You should have received the login link and credentials from your hosting provider when you signed up.
Once inside, look under the “Files” section and click on Disk Usage. This section gives you a complete overview of how your disk space is being used across your hosting directories.

Step 2: Find Out What’s Consuming Your Disk Space

Inside the Disk Usage tool, scroll down to view the graphical breakdown of your directories. Pay close attention to folders like:

• /public_html/uploads/ – often bloated by media files from WordPress
• /mail/ – where emails are stored if you use cPanel-based email accounts
• /tmp/ – contains temporary session and cache files
• /backup/ or /cpbackup/ – for old manual or automated backups

You can also open File Manager (also under the “Files” section) and sort folders or files by size to identify the biggest culprits.

Step 3: Clear Out Unwanted or Outdated Files

Once you’ve pinpointed what’s using the most space, it’s time to clean up. Here’s how:

A. Clean Up Old Email Data

1. Go to Email Accounts in cPanel.
2. Click Check Email next to the address using the most space.
3. Open RoundCube, and delete old or large emails.
4. Empty your Trash and Spam folders they count toward your quota.

Pro Tip: Use the Email Disk Usage tool in cPanel to bulk delete messages based on size or date.

B. Delete Unused or Outdated Backup Files

Some plugins or manual processes save full-site backups in your account, which can take up gigabytes of space.

Open File Manager

1. Check folders like /home/yourusername/, /public_html/, or /backups/
2. Delete large .zip, .tar, or .gz files you no longer need
3. Download them first if you want to keep a local copy

C. Remove Unused WordPress Files and Media

1. Inside WordPress, remove unused themes, plugins, and media files.
2. Use tools like Media Cleaner (with caution) to identify orphaned images.
3. Delete duplicate or old development/staging directories (e.g., /public_html/test/ or /oldsite/)

D. Clean Up Temporary and Log Files

1. Go to File Manager
2. Navigate to the /tmp/ directory
3. Delete outdated cache files or old sessions

Caution: Avoid deleting very recent session files as they may be active.

Step 4: Use Terminal or SSH (Optional for Advanced Users)

If your hosting package allows SSH access, you can log in to the terminal and run this command to identify large folders:

bash

du -sh * | sort -h

This command lists all items in your current directory by size. This is useful if you prefer command-line tools or need to do a faster scan.

Step 5: Verify Results from the cPanel Sidebar

After cleaning up, return to the main cPanel dashboard.

Look at the right-hand sidebar under “Statistics”:

• Disk Usage: Shows how much of your allocated space you are currently using
• Inodes: Reflects the number of files and directories (important for file count limits)

If the numbers have dropped significantly, you’ve successfully cleared enough space.

Step 6: How to Prevent This Issue in the Future

Here are a few simple tips to avoid running into disk space problems again:

• Set up external email services (like Gmail via SMTP/IMAP) to avoid storing large emails on the server.
• Configure WordPress backup plugins to store backups remotely (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.).
• Limit backup retention one or two copies are usually enough.
• Monitor disk usage regularly via the Disk Usage tool.
• If your hosting provider offers it, enable email alerts for disk usage warnings (e.g., at 80% usage).

What If You Still See the “Disk Quota Exceeded” Error?

If you’ve deleted large files and still see the error:

• Wait a few minutes cPanel takes time to update quota records.
• Try logging out and logging back in.
• Clear your browser cache or try accessing from Incognito Mode.

If the problem remains, your host might need to manually recalculate disk usage or check for quota misconfigurations.

Final Thoughts

The “Disk Quota Exceeded” error might seem alarming, but it’s usually easy to fix if you know where to look. With regular maintenance like deleting unused media, cleaning emails, and managing backups you can keep your disk space under control and avoid service interruptions.
As your hosting provider, we’re here to help. If you’re unsure which files are safe to delete or you need help reviewing your usage, feel free to contact our support team. We’re always happy to guide you.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What does “Disk Quota Exceeded” mean in cPanel?
It means your hosting account has used up all the allocated disk space. This prevents further data from being written affecting emails, uploads, backups, and website functionality.

2. How can I check what’s using most of my disk space?
Log in to cPanel and use the Disk Usage tool under the “Files” section. It provides a visual breakdown of your directory sizes. You can also use File Manager to manually inspect large files.

3. Will my website stop working if I exceed the disk quota?
Yes, in many cases. WordPress may fail to load properly, plugins may crash, and you might see 500 errors or blank screens. Your site cannot write cache, logs, or session data.

4. Can emails bounce because of disk quota issues?
Absolutely. When your mailbox or hosting disk space is full, incoming emails are rejected with a “Mailbox Full” or “Quota Exceeded” error. Outgoing mail may also fail.

5. How can I delete emails without logging into each account?
Use the Email Disk Usage tool in cPanel. It lets you view and bulk-delete messages by folder (Inbox, Trash, etc.) and sort by oldest or largest messages.

6. Do backup plugins like UpdraftPlus or All-in-One WP Migration cause quota problems?
Yes, they can. If backups are stored locally (on the server), they can consume gigabytes of space. It’s better to configure them to upload backups to external storage like Dropbox or Google Drive.

7. What are inodes and can they affect disk quota?
Inodes represent the number of files and directories in your account. Even if you have free space, hitting your inode limit can trigger similar errors. Check “Inode Usage” in the cPanel sidebar.

8. Is it safe to delete files from the /tmp/ folder?
Yes, but only old files. Temporary session and cache files can build up over time. Be cautious not to delete actively used session files while you’re logged into the website or admin panel.

9. Can I upgrade my hosting plan to fix this issue permanently?
If your usage is consistently high, yes upgrading to a plan with more disk space or moving to a VPS or dedicated server can give you more breathing room and flexibility.

10. I cleaned everything but the error still shows what now?
Wait 5–10 minutes for cPanel to refresh disk usage stats. If it persists, try logging out and back in. If it still doesn’t resolve, contact support — we may need to recalculate quota usage manually.