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  1. cPanel & WHM Documentation
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  4. Manage the Domain
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Manage the Domain

Valid for versions 138 through the latest version

Version:

110

130

132

138

Last modified: 2026 July 22

Looking for this interface?
Note:

Your hosting provider can enable or disable this interface in WHM's Feature Manager interface (WHM >> Home >> Packages >> Feature Manager).

Overview

Use this interface to manage the domain’s document root directory, rename the domain, remove the domain, or perform other actions.

Note:
  • To update your domain’s DNS records, use cPanel’s Zone Editor interface (cPanel » Home » Domains » Zone Editor). Contact your hosting provider to change any records that do not appear in cPanel’s Zone Editor interface.
  • You cannot update or renew a domain’s registration in cPanel. To find out how to update or renew a domain’s registration, contact your hosting provider or read our How to Identify Your Registrar documentation.
  • If your hosting provider has enabled the feature, this interface will recommend related domains for purchase. To read how to use this option, read our How to Purchase a domain from the Domains interface documentation.
  • cPanel & WHM does not support the following features for accounts with temporary domains:
    • Editing DNS
    • Email services
    • Search Engine Optimization

Update the domain

This section allows you to change your domain from a temporary to a registered domain and update your document root.

Temporary domains

If your account uses a temporary domain, select the Replace with a registered domain option to update the account to use a registered domain.

When you update from a temporary domain to a registered domain, the cPanel account will gain all email services and DNS editing privileges that its package provides.

Enter the new domain name in the Replace with a registered domain text box and click Update.

Note:

To change a temporary Main Domain to a registered domain, use the Rename Domain feature.

New document root

The domain’s document root directory defines the domain’s directory relative to the cPanel account’s home directory. For example, enter newdomain.com in the New Document Root text box for a cPanel account that uses the /home/username home directory. That domain’s files will reside in the /home/username/public_html/newdomain.com directory.

Note:
  • If you change this directory, the server searches for your files in a different location. The server does not rearrange your files in any way. You will need to move the files to the specified directory.
  • You cannot change the document root directory for the Main Domain.
  • You cannot modify the document root directory for domains that share that directory with the Main Domain.

To provide a new document root directory, perform the following steps:

  1. Enter a new path, relative to the user’s home directory.
  2. Click Update.

Rename the domain

When you rename a domain, the system updates associated services to reflect the new domain name. For example, it will update email accounts, DNS records, and the document root.

  • You can rename primary, addon, and parked domains.
    Note:

    You cannot rename subdomains.

  • The new domain name must be different from the current domain name and must not already exist on the server.

To rename a domain, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Rename Domain.
  2. Enter the new domain name in the text box.
  3. Select the checkbox to confirm that you want to rename the domain.
  4. Click Rename. A success message will confirm the change, and the page will refresh to reflect the new domain name.

Domain information

This section contains the following information about the domain:

Item Description Example
Domain The domain name. example.com
Redirects To If the listed domain redirects to a different domain, the destination will appear here. Click a domain to visit the public-facing website. A new tab will appear.

To manage redirects, use cPanel’s Redirects interface (cPanel » Home » Domains » Redirects).
  • example2.com
  • Not Redirected
Document Root The directory that contains a domain’s publicly-available files. /public_html

Remove the domain

Important:
  • We strongly recommend that you create a full account backup before you remove a domain. For more information about backups, read our Backup documentation.
  • This action only removes the domain’s vhost entries and DNS entries. The server retains the domain’s directory and contents.
  • You cannot delete the Main Domain.

To remove the domain from the cPanel account, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Remove Domain.
  2. To confirm that you wish to remove this domain, click Yes, remove this domain.

Email accounts when you remove a domain

If you remove a domain that contains email accounts, those email accounts will not appear in the Email Accounts interface (cPanel » Home » Email » Email Accounts). However, the mail folders continue to exist on the server. If you add the domain again, the email accounts will reappear.

Additional Resources

In the Additional Resources section, you can select the following actions:

Action Description
Create an Email Address Add an email address to the website. The Create an Email Account interface (cPanel » Home » Email » Create an Email Account) will appear.
Create a Site with Sitejet Builder Quickly create a simple website, even if you have never created a website before. The Sitejet Builder interface (cPanel » Home » Domains » Sitejet Builder) will appear.
Modify the Zones Create, edit, and delete Domain Name System (DNS) records. The Zone Editor interface (cPanel » Home » Domains » Zone Editor) will appear.
Modify the Redirects Send all of the visitors of a domain or particular page to a different URL. The Redirects interface (cPanel » Home » Domains » Redirects) will appear.