Forgot cPanel Password: Use the Reset Password Link at Login

Updated: 22 October 2026 · Applies to: cPanel and WHM 130 and later (Reset Password on the cPanel login page), cPanel shared and reseller hosting

If you have forgotten your cPanel password and cannot log in to the client area either, click Reset Password on the cPanel login page, enter your cPanel username and your contact email address, and type the security code that cPanel emails you. You then choose a new password yourself. cPanel cannot show you the old password; it can only set a new one.

This article covers that self-service route from the cPanel login page. If you can still log in to the Ucartz client area, the quicker way is How to Reset Your cPanel Password from the Ucartz Client Area, which needs no email and no code. If the Reset Password link is missing or the code never arrives, go to cPanel Password Reset Not Working: Causes and Fixes.

Before you start

According to cPanel, the reset only works when two things are in place:

• The server administrator has left Reset Password for cPanel accounts switched on in WHM (it is on by default). If the login page shows no Reset Password link, it has been turned off for that server.
• A contact email address is saved in cPanel under Preferences › Contact Information (from cPanel version 130 this page is part of Account Preferences). The security code goes to that address. If no address was ever saved, cPanel shows a made-up address during the reset to protect the account, and you cannot use it.

Reset a forgotten cPanel password

1. Open the cPanel login page in your browser, for example https://example.com:2083/ or https://example.com/cpanel (use your own domain).
2. Click Reset Password.
3. Enter your cPanel username in Username and click Reset Password. The username is in your hosting welcome email; it is not your domain name or your email address.
4. Enter the contact email address of the account in Contact Email Address and click Send Security Code.
5. Keep this browser tab open. cPanel requires you to finish the reset in the same browser session in which you started it.
6. Look for the password reset email in that mailbox, including the spam or junk folder. If it has not arrived after a few minutes, click Send Security Code Again.
7. Type the code in Security Code and click Submit.
8. Enter a new password in New Password, enter it again to confirm, and click Set Password.
9. Click Log In and sign in with your username and the new password.

Older versions of cPanel showed a generated password at the end of this process, and the screenshots in our earlier version of this guide showed that window. Current versions let you choose the password yourself, as described above (steps taken from cPanel documentation).

What the new password changes

• cPanel login: use the new password with your cPanel username.
• Main FTP account: the FTP login that uses your cPanel username takes the new password too. Update it in your FTP program.
• Reseller accounts: your WHM login uses the same username and password, so the new password works in WHM as well. More on reseller logins in WHM Reseller Password Reset: Your Login and Client Accounts.
• Not changed: email account passwords, database user passwords and your Ucartz client area password.

The client area keeps its own copy of your hosting password, and a reset done on the cPanel login page does not update it. If you want the password shown in the client area to match again, set it once more from the client area as described in How to Reset Your cPanel Password from the Ucartz Client Area (see also Security concern about control panel password being displayed in client area).

Make the next reset easy

• Check that your contact email address is current: How to Edit Contact Information and Preferences in cPanel?. cPanel recommends an address outside the hosting account itself, so that a full mailbox or a mail problem on the account cannot stop the reset email.
• Store the password in a password manager, and turn on two-factor authentication: How to enable Two Factor Authentication for your cPanel account?.
• If you know your current password and only want a new one, change it inside cPanel instead: How to change your cPanel password?.

When you cannot use either method

If the reset link is missing, the contact address no longer works and you cannot log in to the client area, open a support ticket or contact us with your domain name. We verify that the account is yours before we set a new password. To recover the client area login itself, click Forgot Password? on the client area login page first.

Looking for the root password of a VPS rather than a cPanel login? See How to Reset Your VPS Root or Admin Password Using Virtualizor, and New VPS Root Password Not Accepted After a Virtualizor Reset if the new one is refused.

Official documentation: How to Reset a cPanel Account Password (cPanel).