# My hosting account is out of disk space

> What stops working when your Ruachost hosting account runs out of disk space, how to see what's using it, and how to free up space or upgrade.

Source: https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/getting-started/website-troubleshooting/hosting-account-out-of-disk-space/

Your website files, databases, email and backups all share your hosting plan's **disk space**. There's no separate limit on the number of files or the size of a mailbox, but when the disk space in your plan is used up, your services stop working properly.

## You'll be warned before it's full

When your account is close to using all its disk space, we warn you in two ways:

- A **notice in webmail** when you log in.
- An **email notification** to your account's contact email address.

Don't ignore these warnings. Free up space or upgrade straight away, before your website and email are affected.

## Signs your account is full

- **Email bounces** with "mailbox full" or "quota exceeded", and you stop receiving new messages.
- **You can't upload** images or files in WordPress or File Manager.
- **WordPress, plugin or theme updates fail**, often with "Could not create directory". See [Fixing "Could not create directory" in WordPress](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/wordpress/guides/fixing-could-not-create-directory-in-wordpress/).
- **Database errors**, or your website shows errors or a blank page, because the database can't save new data.
- **Backups fail**, and cPanel shows the disk usage bar in red.

## Check your disk usage

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Look at **Disk Usage** in the **Statistics** panel on the right of the home screen. It shows how much you've used out of your plan's total.
3. To see which folders are biggest, open **Disk Usage** under **Files**. See [Viewing disk usage information in cPanel](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/cpanel/files/viewing-disk-usage-information-in-cpanel/).

## Free up space

Start with the things that are usually biggest:

1. **Old backups.** Backup files (`.zip`, `.tar.gz`, `.wpress`) in your home folder, `public_html`, `softaculous_backups` or a plugin's backup folder. Download any you want to keep, then delete them. Your account is still backed up automatically with JetBackup.
2. **Email.** Empty **Trash** and **Spam**, and delete old emails with large attachments. In cPanel, **Email Disk Usage** shows the biggest mailboxes and lets you delete old messages in bulk.
3. **Website cache.** Purge the cache in your caching plugin, for example LiteSpeed Cache.
4. **Log files.** Large `error_log` files in your website folders. Delete them, then fix the errors that fill them. See [Finding PHP error logs](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/developers/php/enabling-php-error-logging/).
5. **Old or test websites** you no longer use.
6. **Databases.** Old revisions, spam comments and logs in WordPress. See [Optimizing WordPress database](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/wordpress/guides/optimizing-wordpress-database/).

Deleted files in **File Manager** may go to the **Trash** first. Click **View Trash → Empty Trash** to free the space.

For a command-line way to find the biggest folders, see [Determining high disk usage locations](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/developers/linux/determining-high-disk-usage-locations/).

## Need more space?

If your site has simply grown, upgrade to a bigger plan. It takes effect as soon as the invoice is paid, with no downtime and nothing to move. See [Changing your billing cycle and upgrading your plan](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/billing/guides/changing-your-billing-cycle-and-upgrading/).

## Related articles

- [Managing the inode count](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/developers/linux/managing-the-inode-count/)
- [Email sending and mailbox limits](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/email/guides/email-sending-and-mailbox-limits/)
- [Website not working? Where to start](https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/getting-started/website-troubleshooting/website-not-working-where-to-start/)