Your hosting plan has a specific disk space allowance, and if you exceed it, there are certain consequences. Here’s what happens when you go beyond your plan’s disk space limit:
cPanel Space Usage Exceeded:
- Everything in your account contributes to your total space usage, including website files, databases, and email.
- As your cPanel account nears its capacity (usually at 80%, 90%, and 98%), the server will send automatic warning emails to the contact email address configured in the Update Contact Info icon. Ensure this email address is external to Hostingly’s network (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) for reliable communication.
- These warning emails are sent only once at each interval, so it’s crucial to act upon receiving them.
- When you run out of space, you may not be able to log into your cPanel or webmail accounts. Your website will continue to work unless it attempts to request more space.
- To unlock your account, you must submit a support request so that Hostingly can add a 50Mb grace allowance. Once added, you should regain access to your account, allowing you to remove excess files and mail.
- Notify Hostingly when you’ve cleared the excess files so they can remove the grace allowance. If your account fills up again, you’ll need to upgrade your account or provide details of files to remove.
Mailbox Limit Exceeded:
- As a mailbox approaches its capacity, the server will send automatic warning emails to the mailbox, typically at 80%, 90%, and 98% capacity. The mailbox quota includes all messages in all mail folders (inbox, sent, trash, and others).
- If you use POP3 (which usually removes messages from the server after downloading), your email software may be configured to leave copies of messages on the server. This can lead to the inbox filling up over time.
- You can check this by logging into Webmail and deleting old messages to recover space. You might also want to adjust your email client settings to delete messages after downloading to prevent future over-quota situations.
- When a mailbox reaches its limit, the server will defer the delivery of further messages. These deferred messages are usually stored by the email spam filtering system and sent once the over-quota condition is resolved.
- To address this, remove some messages from your mailbox using the Email Disk Usage tool, log in to Webmail to delete messages, or increase the email account quota.
- Although it’s possible to set the email account quota to unlimited, remember that email accounts are part of your overall package limit. Setting a reasonable quota ensures users stay within your hosting plan’s disk space allowance.
