---
title: "Understanding the public_html Folder"
slug: "understanding-the-public-html-folder"
updated: 2026-07-07T04:02:55Z
published: 2026-07-07T04:02:55Z
canonical: "docs.serversaustralia.com.au/understanding-the-public-html-folder"
---
> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.serversaustralia.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Understanding the public_html Folder
The public_html folder is the web root for your primary domain name.
This means that the public_html folder is the location where you put all the website files that you want to appear when someone visits your primary domain.
## Example:
If you have a file called index.html, index.php, or any other valid default file name in the public_html folder it will display that page.
*If you do not have a valid default file in the public_html folder a list of contents in the public_html folder will be displayed instead.*
This will mirror the files shown by an unprivileged user in that directory performing an ls:
[unpriv@testvm public_html]# **ls /home/exampledomain/public_html**
```shell
example2.txt example.txt
```
## Addon Domains, Addon domains and Subdomains
You can also create Addon domains and subdomains and these will use a folder inside your public_html as their document root by default. For example, the subdomain **test.**exampledomain.com.au (with a separate document root) would show within cPanel as: 
And within your filesystem as:
[unpriv@testvm public_html]# **ls /home/exampledomain/public_html**
```shell
example2.txt example.txt testing.exampledomain.com
```
## Example:
- You can create an Addon domain called [addondomain.com](//addondomain.com) and it will use a subfolder similar to ~/public_html/addondomain.com.
- You could create a Subdomain called [forums.domain.com](//forums.domain.com) and it would use a subfolder similar to ~/public_html/forums.
## Permissions
Permissions are important for a sites operations and correct functionality, some of the defaults are :
| Files/Folders | Permissions |
| --- | --- |
| **public_html** | 0750 |
| Folders inside **public_html** | 0755 |
| Files inside of **public_html** | 0755 or 0644 |
> [!WARNING]
> Notes
>
> Some sites may advise you to use 777 permissions, however this is extremely unsafe and at the least should have 755. This is more secure.
>
> These defaults are only some common values, please see with your developer if there are any specific requirements.
> [!NOTE]
> Additional Information
>
> *The full path to your public_html account (specially when browsing via SSH/terminal) is /home//public_html*