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If your domain loads a directory listing, a default server page, or a blank screen instead of your homepage, the issue is usually that your index file is named incorrectly, is in the wrong directory, or has an error preventing it from rendering.
The index file is missing or named wrong
The web server looks for files named index.html, index.htm, index.php, or index.shtml in that order. If none of these exist in your public_html directory, the server either shows a directory listing or the default "Under Construction" page.
01. Check Your Index File
- Log into cPanel and open File Manager
- Navigate to
public_html - Look for a file named
index.htmlorindex.php
If the file does not exist, you need to upload your website files. See Uploaded My Site But Cannot See It for guidance on where to upload files.
If the file exists but has a different name (like home.html or main.php), either rename it to index.html/index.php, or set a custom DirectoryIndex in .htaccess (see section 05).
02. Index File Naming and Priority
Apache checks for index files in this order:
index.htmlindex.htmindex.phpindex.shtml
The first one found is served. If you have both index.html and index.php, the .html file takes priority. If your site runs on PHP (like WordPress), make sure there is no leftover index.html file that is overriding your index.php.
A common issue: cPanel creates a default index.html "Under Construction" page on new accounts. If you installed WordPress but still see the default page, delete or rename public_html/index.html. WordPress uses index.php which has lower priority. See Removing the Default Page.
03. Files Must Be in public_html
Your website's document root is public_html. Files uploaded to your home directory (one level above public_html) or to a subdirectory inside public_html will not serve as your homepage.
Common mistake: uploading files inside a subfolder like public_html/mysite/index.html. The homepage should be at public_html/index.html. For addon domains, the document root is the directory you specified when creating the addon domain. See FTP Root Directory.
04. PHP Errors Causing Blank Pages
If your index.php exists but the page is blank (white screen), there is likely a PHP error. Check your error log: cPanel > Metrics > Errors, or look at public_html/error_log.
Common causes:
- Syntax error in PHP code
- Database connection failure - Check
wp-config.phpcredentials for WordPress. See Cannot Connect to MySQL. - PHP version incompatibility - Your code may require a different PHP version. See Changing PHP Version.
- Memory limit exceeded - Check for "Allowed memory size exhausted" in the error log
05. DirectoryIndex in .htaccess
If your homepage file has a non-standard name, you can tell Apache to use it by adding this to your .htaccess file:
DirectoryIndex home.php index.php index.htmlThis tells Apache to look for home.php first, then fall back to index.php, then index.html.
Still Seeing the Wrong Page?
If your index file exists with the right name in the right directory and your site still is not loading, open a ticket and we will check the server configuration.
Open a Support TicketQuick Recap
- Check that index.html or index.php exists in public_html
- index.html takes priority over index.php - Delete leftover default pages
- Files must be directly in public_html - Not in a subfolder
- Blank page = PHP error - Check cPanel > Metrics > Errors
- Custom filename? - Set DirectoryIndex in .htaccess
Getting your homepage to load correctly · Last updated March 2026 · Browse all General articles
