Password Protecting Web Directories on a Windows Hosting Account
NOTE: Before you start, click here to see which version of the FTP File Manager is in your Control Panel. This help article applies to the New FTP File Manager. If you are using the Classic FTP File Manager, see Password Protecting Web Directories on a Windows Hosting Account
You can password protect a directory on your Windows hosting account by removing the "Read" directory permission for that directory. The result of removing this permission is that you can only access that directory using your hosting account user name and password.
NOTE: This process restricts directory access to the primary FTP user only.
To Restrict Web Access to a Directory Using the File Manager
- Log in to your Account Manager.
- Click Web Hosting.
- Next to the hosting account you want to use, click Launch.
- From the Tools section, click File Manager.
- Select the appropriate existing directory or create a new directory. For more information, see Creating New Files and Folders Using the File Manager.
- Click Privacy, and then click Advanced Permissions.
- Make sure Read is not checked.
- Click OK.
To verify your settings, go to www.yourdomain.com/customdir, where yourdomain.com is your domain name and customdir is the custom directory you just created or updated. When the login prompt displays, type your hosting account user name and password to view the contents of your directory.
Additional Resources
You can also use an ASP script to password protect your directory. This would require a bit of programming on your part. See the User Authentication section at HotScripts.com for some examples.
NOTE TO FRONTPAGE USERS: Microsoft FrontPage manages all directory and subdirectory permissions on your website. If you created custom directories on your website, or you are using another tool to build and or manage your website, switching to FrontPage may cause some difficulties. It overwrites all of your directory permissions and may make your Website unusable. If you have FrontPage Extensions activated in your Hosting account, you will not have access to the Permissions feature in the File Manager section of the Hosting Control Panel.
For additional information on limiting Web directory access, see Removing Web Access to Directories on a Windows Hosting Account.
