You've forgotten your password. Or someone else might know it, and you want to change it as a precaution. The first instinct is usually a panicked call to your agency - "I can't get into my email, help!"

In the vast majority of cases, this solves itself in a few minutes, no help needed - you just need to know there are two different passwords, and where each one gets changed.

Your email password and your cPanel password aren't the same thing

This is the most common mix-up. Your email password is the one you use to sign into your business email (on your phone, in Outlook, or in webmail). Your cPanel password is a completely separate password used to sign into your hosting control panel - the place where the entire website, all email accounts, files, and much more get managed.

It's possible to have access to one but not the other - for example, you know your email password, but have never even seen cPanel, because that's usually used by the agency managing your website. Both get changed in different places, through different processes.

How to change your email password through cPanel

If you have access to cPanel, this is the fastest and most reliable way.

1. Sign into cPanel (usually at yourdomain.com/cpanel or yourdomain.com:2083, or via the link your hosting provider gave you).
2. Find the Email Accounts section.
3. Find the exact email account whose password you want to change, and click Manage, or directly on Password next to it.
4. Enter a new password manually, or click Generate to have cPanel create a strong, random password for you.
5. Click Update Email Settings or Change Password (depending on your cPanel version) to save the change.

The change takes effect instantly - the new password works right away, but every device where the email is already set up (phone, Outlook, Mac Mail) needs to be manually updated with the new password, otherwise it will keep asking to sign in and showing an error.

How to change your email password without cPanel access

If you don't have cPanel access but do have webmail access (Roundcube or Horde), the password can sometimes be changed from there too.

1. Sign into webmail (webmail.yourdomain.com) with your current password.
2. Look for a Settings icon, usually a gear in the top right corner.
3. Inside settings, look for a Password or Security section.
4. Enter your current password, then the new one twice (to confirm), and save.

This option doesn't always exist - it depends on the hosting setup. If you don't see it, the only remaining option is to ask your agency or hosting provider to change the password from their side, through cPanel.

How to change your cPanel password

1. Sign into cPanel with your current password.
2. Find the Preferences section, then Password & Security.
3. Enter your current password, then the new one, twice.
4. Click Change Password.

What if you've completely lost access to both email and cPanel

This is a situation where you genuinely need someone else's help - but the good news is, this gets solved too, just a bit more slowly.

1. Contact your hosting provider directly (not the agency, but the actual company you bought hosting from) and request a cPanel password reset.
2. The provider will ask for identity verification - usually account details, the domain number, or a reply from the email address originally registered as the account owner.
3. Once verified, the provider sends a reset link or a temporary password, usually within a few hours to one business day.
4. Once you regain access to cPanel, your email password gets changed using the steps described earlier in this text.

What to do right after changing your email password

This is the step that gets forgotten most often, causing fresh confusion - you changed the password, but your phone and computer keep trying to sign in with the old one.

• On your phone, go into the account settings and manually update the password (through Settings > Mail > Accounts on iPhone, or through the account settings in the Gmail/Email app on Android)
• In Outlook (both on the computer and on the phone), go into the account settings and enter the new password
• If you use Thunderbird or Mac Mail, same thing - account settings, new password
• If you use webmail, just sign back in with the new password, no extra steps needed

What a good, secure password looks like

• At least 12 characters, a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols
• Not the business name, a birth date, or anything easily guessable
• Not the same password used for another account (personal email, social media)
• If you struggle to remember a strong password, use a password manager instead of simplifying it

Frequently asked questions

Does changing my email password affect saved emails? No - changing a password doesn't delete or change a single email, it only changes how you sign in.

How often should I change my email password? There's no strict rule, but it's worth changing right away if you suspect someone else knows it, or if an employee who knew it has left the business.

Can I reset my cPanel password myself if I've completely forgotten it, without the provider's help? Usually not - the cPanel login doesn't offer a public "forgot password" option like Gmail, precisely for security reasons, so identity verification through your hosting provider is required.

Does changing my cPanel password automatically change my email passwords too? No - these are separate systems. Changing your cPanel password just gives you access to the panel, from where you can separately change each email password individually.

What if several employees share the same email password? It's worth considering giving everyone their own account with their own password - shared passwords make it hard to track who did what, and complicate things when someone leaves the business.

In closing

A forgotten password feels like an emergency in the moment, but it's actually one of the easiest problems to solve - once you know the difference between your email and cPanel passwords, and where each one gets changed.

If you still get stuck, or have no access at all, your hosting provider can always help - that's literally their job.