How to create email accounts in cPanel and use Webmail

cPanel's email tools

If your hosting runs cPanel, everything you need to manage your business email lives in the Email section. There is nothing to install: you create the accounts, use them from the browser with Webmail and, if you like, add them to Outlook or your phone later. These are the tools you will use in this guide:

If you are still deciding which addresses to create, start with business email on your domain, where we explain how mailboxes, aliases and forwarders differ.

Create an email account in cPanel

1. Log in to cPanel with the details from your welcome email and open Email Accounts.
2. Click + Create. If you have several domains, pick the right one under Domain.
3. Under Username type the first part of the address, for example sales to create sales@yourbusiness.com.
4. Set the password with Generate, or choose Provide alternate email so the person can create it from a link.
5. Under Storage Space set a quota. 1 to 5 GB is usually enough for one person; accounts that receive lots of attachments need more.
6. Click Create. The account is ready to use right away.

Open Webmail with Roundcube

Webmail lets you read and send email from any browser. There are several ways in; they all lead to the same screen:

https://yourbusiness.com/webmail
https://webmail.yourbusiness.com
https://yourbusiness.com:2096

1. Open any of the addresses above.
2. Enter the full email address (sales@yourbusiness.com) and the mailbox password.
3. The first time, choose Roundcube as the client and check the option to always open it by default.

Roundcube works like any email app: folders on the left, the message list in the middle and the Compose button at the top. Under Settings > Identities you can add your signature, and under Contacts keep your address book.

If port 2096 won't load from your office, your network firewall is probably blocking it; use yourbusiness.com/webmail, which runs over the standard HTTPS port.

Change an email password

There are two ways, depending on who makes the change:

• From cPanel (administrator): in Email Accounts click Manage next to the account, enter the new password under Security and save. Handy when someone leaves the company.
• From Webmail (user): open your account menu, go to Password & Security and change it there.

After changing it, update it in Outlook and on your phone too; otherwise those devices will keep trying the old one and can get your IP blocked for failed attempts.

Forwarders and autoresponders

Create a forwarder

1. Open Forwarders and click Add Forwarder.
2. Under Address to Forward type the address, for example contact.
3. Choose Forward to Email Address and enter the mailbox that should get the messages.
4. Save with Add Forwarder.

Now contact@yourbusiness.com works as an alias without using a mailbox of its own. Avoid forwarding everything to free external accounts: when spam comes through, that provider may start distrusting your server.

Set up an automatic reply

1. Open Autoresponders and click Add Autoresponder.
2. Pick the account, then enter the sender name, the subject and the message.
3. Under Interval set how many hours must pass before replying to the same person again; 24 hours keeps them from getting your notice on every email.
4. Set Start and Stop so it turns on and off by itself on your vacation dates.

Filters and spam protection

Email filters

In Email Filters you pick an account and create rules. For example, if the subject contains “Invoice”, move the message to a folder called Invoices. The available actions include delivering to a folder, redirecting to another address or discarding. For rules that apply to every account on the domain, use Global Email Filters.

Spam filter

1. Open Spam Filters, which uses Apache SpamAssassin to score every message.
2. Turn on Process New Emails and Mark them as Spam.
3. Turn on Move New Spam to a Separate Folder so spam goes to its own folder instead of your inbox.
4. Leave the threshold at 5, the default. Lower it only if a lot of spam still gets in.
5. In the additional settings, add important senders to the allow list and persistent ones to the block list.

Hold off on automatic deletion until you have checked the spam folder for a few weeks and confirmed that it isn't catching legitimate mail.

Common problems

• The mailbox is full. Senders get a quota exceeded bounce. Raise the quota under Manage, or empty the trash and large folders with Email Disk Usage.
• I can't log in to Webmail. Use the full email address as the username. If you failed several times, wait a few minutes: the server temporarily blocks the IP.
• Emails don't arrive. Use Track Delivery to see whether the message reached the server, and confirm that your domain's MX records point to your hosting; see what is DNS.
• My emails land in spam. Open Email Deliverability in cPanel and fix whatever it flags; it ties into SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

Once your accounts are ready, the next step is to set them up in Outlook and on your phone.