An address like info@yourdomain.com looks far more trustworthy to customers than a free personal mailbox. If your hosting comes with cPanel, you can create as many professional email accounts as your plan allows, in just a couple of minutes and at no extra cost.
This guide shows you how to create an email account in cPanel, choose sensible settings, start reading mail in Webmail, and manage the account afterwards.
Before you begin
Check these three things first:
- Your domain points to your hosting. For email to arrive in cPanel, your domain’s MX record must point to your hosting server. If you use your host’s nameservers, this is set up automatically.
- Your plan includes email. Look at the Statistics panel on the cPanel home page for the Email Accounts limit.
- You have enough disk space. Mailboxes share the same disk space as your website files.
Choosing a good email address
A clear address helps people remember it and trust it. Common choices are shown below.
| Address | Best used for |
|---|---|
info@yourdomain.com | General enquiries on your website and visiting cards |
support@yourdomain.com | Customer help and after-sales questions |
sales@yourdomain.com | Quotes, orders and new business |
accounts@yourdomain.com | Invoices, GST bills and payments |
firstname@yourdomain.com | A personal address for each team member |
Keep addresses short, lowercase and free of numbers or hyphens unless they are needed. Avoid addresses that look like system accounts, such as admin or root, for staff mailboxes, because they attract more spam.
It also helps to decide early whether a role address will be a real mailbox or just a forwarder. For a small business where one person handles everything, you might create a single mailbox such as yourname@yourdomain.com and make info@ and sales@ forwarders that deliver into it. As the team grows, you can turn those forwarders into separate mailboxes without changing the addresses printed on your website or letterhead.
How to create an email account in cPanel
- Log in to cPanel (usually at
https://yourdomain.com:2083). - In the Email section, click Email Accounts.
- Click the + Create button.
- If you have more than one domain, choose the correct one from the Domain drop-down.
- In Username, type the part before the @ sign, for example
info. The full address is shown underneath. - Under Security, choose Set password now and enter a strong password, or click Generate to create one. Copy it somewhere safe.
- Click Edit Settings if you want to change the Storage Space. You can set a limit in MB or GB, or choose Unlimited to let it use your plan’s available disk space.
- Leave Send a welcome email with instructions to set up a mail client ticked if you want setup details delivered to the new inbox.
- Click + Create. A green success message confirms the account is ready.
Tip: Creating an account for an employee? Choose Provide alternate email instead of setting a password. cPanel sends a link to the person’s existing email address so they can set their own password, and you never need to know it.
What about “Automatically Create Folders for Plus Addressing”?
Plus addressing lets you use variations like info+newsletter@yourdomain.com. Mail sent to it still arrives in the info mailbox, and with this option on, cPanel files it into a folder called “newsletter” automatically. It is handy for sorting sign-ups, but you can leave it off if you do not need it.
How to open your new mailbox in Webmail
Webmail lets you read and send mail in your browser without setting up any app.
- Go to Email Accounts in cPanel and click Check Email next to the new address. Or visit
https://yourdomain.com:2096(orhttps://webmail.yourdomain.com) directly. - If you log in directly, enter the full email address and its password.
- Choose a Webmail application, usually Roundcube. You can tick the option to open it automatically next time.
- Send a test message to your personal address, then reply to it to confirm both sending and receiving work.
To use the account in Gmail, Outlook or on your phone, open Connect Devices next to the account in Email Accounts. It shows the exact IMAP and SMTP settings for your server.
Managing an email account
Click Manage next to any address in Email Accounts to change it later.
Change the password
Enter a new password under Security and click Update Email Settings. Remember to update the password in every app and phone that uses this account.
Change storage space
Adjust Allocated Storage Space. When a mailbox is full, new mail bounces back to the sender, so it is better to set a sensible limit and clean up old mail than to let it fill silently.
Restrictions
Under Restrictions you can suspend receiving, sending or logging in separately. This is useful when an employee leaves: suspend login immediately, keep receiving on, and forward their mail to a colleague while you sort things out.
Delete the account
Scroll to the bottom of the Manage page and click Delete Email Account. This permanently removes all mail in the mailbox, so download anything important first.
Useful related tools
- Forwarders: send copies of incoming mail to another address. Great when you want
sales@mail to reach two people. - Autoresponders: automatic replies for holidays or to acknowledge enquiries.
- Default Address: decides what happens to mail sent to addresses that do not exist. Rejecting it (“fail”) reduces spam.
- Email Disk Usage: find and delete old or large messages to free up space.
- Email Deliverability: sets up SPF and DKIM so your messages are less likely to go to spam.
Common problems and fixes
“You have reached the maximum number of email accounts”
Your plan has a fixed limit. Delete unused accounts, use forwarders instead of full mailboxes for aliases, or upgrade your plan.
Mail is not arriving
Check that the domain’s MX record points to your hosting, especially if your DNS is managed elsewhere (for example at your domain registrar or a CDN). Use Track Delivery in cPanel to see whether the message reached the server and what happened to it.
The password is rejected as too weak
cPanel checks password strength. Use a longer password that mixes upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, or use the Generate button.
Sent mail goes to the recipient’s spam folder
Open Email Deliverability and fix any problems it reports with SPF or DKIM. New domains also need time to build a good sending reputation.
Frequently asked questions
How many email accounts can I create in cPanel?
It depends on your hosting plan. The limit is shown in the Statistics panel. Some plans allow unlimited accounts, but each one still uses disk space.
Is cPanel email free?
Email accounts are included with your hosting, so there is no extra charge per mailbox. You only pay for the hosting plan itself.
What is the difference between an email account and a forwarder?
An email account is a real mailbox with its own password and storage. A forwarder has no mailbox; it just passes incoming mail to another address.
Can I use the same password as my cPanel login?
You can, but you should not. Use a unique password for each mailbox so that if one is leaked, your whole hosting account is not at risk.
Conclusion
Creating a professional email account in cPanel takes just a few clicks: open Email Accounts, click + Create, choose a clear username and strong password, and set a sensible storage limit. Test it in Webmail, then connect it to your favourite email app. With a matching domain address, every message you send looks more professional and trustworthy.
