How to Create a Subdomain in cPanel

A subdomain is an extension of your main domain that functions as a separate website or section. For example, blog.yourdomain.com or shop.yourdomain.com. Subdomains are useful for organising different areas of your online presence without registering additional domains.

Common Uses for Subdomains

• blog.yourdomain.com — A separate blog or news section
• shop.yourdomain.com — An e-commerce storefront
• support.yourdomain.com — A help desk or knowledge base
• staging.yourdomain.com — A test/staging environment for development
• mail.yourdomain.com — Webmail access

Prerequisites

• An active Cynet hosting account
• A domain already added to your hosting
• Access to cPanel

Steps

Step 1: Log in to cPanel

Navigate to yourdomain.com/cpanel or log in via your Cynet client area.

Step 2: Open the Domains Tool

In the cPanel dashboard, scroll to the Domains section and click Domains.

On older cPanel versions, look for Subdomains as a separate tool. On current cPanel there is no separate Subdomains page — subdomains, addon domains and aliases are all created from this one screen.

Step 3: Click Create A New Domain

The button sits above the list of domains already on your account.

Step 4: Fill In the Form

1. Select the type of domain to create — leave this on Registered Domain. Despite the name, that is the option that creates a subdomain of a domain you already host. Temporary Domain creates a throwaway preview address on the server's own hostname, for viewing a site before its real domain points at the hosting — not what you want here.
2. Domain — type the full subdomain, including your domain name: blog.yourdomain.com. cPanel works out on its own that blog is a subdomain of yourdomain.com.
3. Share document root — leave this unticked. See below.
4. Document Root — cPanel fills this in for you as soon as you finish typing the domain, and the default is not inside public_html. See below.
5. Submit — click it once. Submit And Create Another does the same thing but keeps the form open for the next subdomain.

Leave "Share document root" unticked

Ticking it points the subdomain at the same folder as your main site, so blog.yourdomain.com would serve exactly the same pages as yourdomain.com. cPanel warns that this setting is permanent — you cannot unshare it afterwards, only delete the domain and create it again.

The document root default is not inside public_html

The house icon in front of the field is your home directory, so the pre-filled blog.yourdomain.com means a new folder sitting beside public_html:

/home/username/blog.yourdomain.com

That is deliberate — it keeps the subdomain's files out of your main site — but it catches out anyone who goes looking for the folder inside public_html later.

If you would rather keep everything under public_html, overwrite the field with public_html/blog before submitting. Decide now: changing the document root afterwards means moving files by hand.

Step 5: What Happens Next

On submit, cPanel:

1. Creates the document root directory automatically
2. Adds the necessary DNS records
3. Makes the subdomain accessible (may take a few minutes)

Uploading Content to Your Subdomain

After creating the subdomain, upload your website files:

Via File Manager

1. Open cPanel → File Manager
2. Navigate to the document root you set (e.g., blog.yourdomain.com in your home directory, or /public_html/blog if you changed it)
3. Upload your files or create an index.html / index.php

Via FTP

1. Connect using your FTP client (FileZilla, WinSCP, etc.)
2. Navigate to the subdomain's document root
3. Upload your files

Install a CMS

You can install WordPress or other applications on a subdomain:

1. Open cPanel → Softaculous Apps Installer
2. Click WordPress → Install
3. In the Choose Domain dropdown, select your subdomain
4. Complete the installation

Managing Subdomains

View All Subdomains

Go to cPanel → Domains to see all your domains and subdomains listed together.

Delete a Subdomain

1. Go to cPanel → Domains
2. Find the subdomain in the list
3. Click Manage → Remove Domain

Warning: Deleting a subdomain does not delete the files in its document root. You'll need to manually remove the folder via File Manager if you want to free up disk space.

Redirect a Subdomain

To redirect a subdomain to another URL:

1. Go to cPanel → Redirects
2. Select your subdomain from the dropdown
3. Enter the destination URL
4. Choose redirect type (301 Permanent or 302 Temporary)
5. Click Add

DNS and Propagation

When you create a subdomain in cPanel, the DNS A record is added automatically. If your domain uses Cynet nameservers (ns1.cynethost.com through ns4.cynethost.com), the subdomain should resolve within minutes.

If your domain uses external nameservers, you'll need to manually add an A record for the subdomain at your DNS provider:

Troubleshooting

Subdomain shows "Index of /" or a blank page

The document root is empty. Upload an index.html or install a CMS to the subdomain folder.

Subdomain shows the main website

Either Share document root was ticked when you created it, or the document root was set to /public_html instead of a subdomain-specific folder. Check the Document Root column in cPanel → Domains. A shared document root cannot be undone — remove the domain and create it again with the box unticked.

Can't find the subdomain's folder in File Manager

By default it is not in public_html. Look in your home directory for a folder named after the subdomain — the same path shown in the Document Root column of cPanel → Domains.

Subdomain not resolving

• If using Cynet nameservers, wait 5–10 minutes for DNS to propagate
• If using external nameservers, add the A record manually at your DNS provider
• Clear your browser cache or try in an incognito window