How to Check Bandwidth Usage in cPanel
Bandwidth is the data transferred to and from your site each month. Checking it helps you spot spikes and plan capacity.
Step-by-step
- Open Metrics → Bandwidth in cPanel.
- Read the current month's total at the top, shown against your plan allowance.
- Review the graphs — daily, weekly, monthly and yearly transfer, split by HTTP, FTP and mail.
- Identify spikes. A sudden jump can mean a traffic surge, a large download, or bots — cross-check with AWStats.
- Reduce usage if needed — optimise large images, enable Gzip, and add a CDN to offload static files.
- Watch the trend month to month so growth never surprises you.
💡 Good to know
- Hotlinking (other sites embedding your images) wastes bandwidth — see hotlink protection.
- EconomicalHost plans include generous transfer; consistent high usage is a sign to discuss an upgrade.
- Email and FTP count toward bandwidth too, not just web traffic.