Have you ever bumped into an error on your website when you are uploading an image, stating that the image cannot be uploaded for some strange reason? Have you ever seen a warning in the cPanel service indicating that you have reached the limit of inodes for your Web Hosting Account? 

These scenarios happen pretty often with big and busy websites. The most common reasons (but not limited to), based on our experience, are the number of images uploaded on the website and the number of cache files generated by some caching plugins. 

Alright, but what should I do when I reach the limit of inodes for my Web Hosting Account?

Keep on reading because, in the following lines of this post, we will show you an easy-to-follow, quick trick to maintain the inode usage of your web hosting account within its healthy boundaries!

What Is an Inode?

By definition, an Inode is a structural component of a Unix-based file system. It is used to describe a file or a folder, and typically, for each file/folder, a single Inode is consumed. In simple words, if the inode consumption of your web hosting account is 15,000, this means that on your web hosting account, there are 15,000 files/folders. 

For example, you can imagine a single Inode as the box or package your smartphone came in. The package will always have the product description as well as the content of the package. Similarly, an Inode contains information about a single file, such as ownership, access mode (read, write, execute permissions), and file type.

Typical Inode Usage by Popular CMS Platforms

The number of inodes used by a website depends on the content management system (CMS), installed themes, plugins/extensions, media library size, cache files, backups, and overall site activity. As websites grow over time, inode usage naturally increases.

Below are general examples of inode consumption for common CMS installations:

• WordPress: A fresh installation may use only a few thousand inodes, but websites with large media libraries, caching plugins, backups, and multiple plugins can easily reach tens or even hundreds of thousands of inodes.
• Drupal: Modern Drupal installations can generate significant inode usage depending on the number of modules, uploaded files, logs, and cached content stored on the account.
• Magento (Adobe Commerce): E-commerce platforms typically consume a high number of inodes due to product images, cache files, generated content, logs, customer uploads, and extensions.

Important: Inode usage varies significantly depending on the CMS version, installed themes and extensions, uploaded media, caching mechanisms, and website size. For this reason, there is no universal inode count that applies to all WordPress, Drupal, or Magento websites.

Regularly reviewing inode usage can help identify unnecessary files, outdated backups, cache directories, and unused extensions that may contribute to inode growth.

So, Why the Limit?

The concept of limiting the inodes per web hosting account on the Shared Hosting is relatively new compared to other limitations, such as the limit of RAM, for example. The need for such a restriction was immense when the shared hosting providers started switching from HDD storage units to SSD. 

Every file that you host on your web hosting account is stored on a physical storage unit, and each such unit has a physical limit of how many files it can keep in addition to the regular limit of how much data it can store. Of course, that limit depends on quite a lot of factors, such as the file system type, for example, but the important thing here is that there is an actual limit of the inodes per storage unit. 

Back in the day, the SSD space was relatively more expensive, and in fact, it still is. To cover the price difference, the hosting providers started using smaller disks with fewer inodes. It sounds logical – reduce the inode usage so you can get more speed. But the websites of the existing clients were already big and with tons of files. So the web hosting companies were forced to adopt the inode limit as a standard on the Shared Hosting plans. 

We are proud to say that HostArmada has one of the most considerable limits for inodes on our Shared Hosting plans. Also, our policies are pretty soft – we will never suspend your account if you reach your inodes limit. Instead, we will do everything we can to assist you in resolving the issue. 

Maintaining Inodes usage with HostArmada Inodes manager.

Typically, to maintain the inode usage of your web hosting account, you have to mess with the SSH service for your Web Hosting account. SSH stands for Secure Socket Layer, and it is the native way for a user to communicate with the Operating System of their Web Hosting Account. 

Sometimes, you might not feel comfortable working with SSH as it involves a slightly complex authentication process, and you need to have knowledge and experience with the service so you can proficiently maintain the inode usage of your web hosting account. 

As always, there is an alternative to that! It is called Inodes Manager, and it is the new kid on the block! 

The HostArmada Inodes Manager is an in-house built plugin for cPanel. It offers a graphical representation of the inodes usage for your web hosting account in such a way that you can quickly review and determine which websites or physical folders are consuming most of the inodes for your web hosting account. 

In addition to that, you will be able to clear the folders (delete the files) on the fly, or if you would like to review the files in each folder on your own. 

In simple words, it is the tool you need when the situation gets critical!

How to Use the HostArmada Inodes Manager

We built this plugin with UX in mind so our users can easily read and decide what they can remove from their web hosting accounts. 

As this is a cPanel plugin, you will find it in the cPanel service for your web hosting account. Once you access it, right at the top of the page, you will see a section called “HOSTARMADA FEATURES”. In it, you will find the Inodes Manager.

Let’s see how the plugin looks. Logically, the plugin is separated into 3 main sections. The first one contains a brief explanation similar to the one we provided in this blog post. 

The second section shows you the current inode usage for your entire cPanel account. 

The third and final one shows you the inode usage per website. 

Let’s begin with the Current Usage section. There you will see a graphical representation of the used inodes. The color of the model will vary depending on your current Inodes usage. 

In the “Usage per domain” section, you will find a sorted table with all of your websites and their inode usage. At the top of the table will always be the website with the most inode usage. To browse the inodes usage per website, please click on the small eye icon next to every website.

Next, you will see a table with the top 20 folders sorted again by inode usage. 

It is always advised first to find information before deleting a file or a folder. Therefore, when you see a folder at the top of the list, do not clear it immediately. Instead, what you should be doing is reviewing the contents of that folder and determining what exactly in that folder is causing the excessive inode usage. 

To navigate within a folder, click on the folder’s name.

This will bring another table, but this time you will be presented with the top 20 inodes using folders within the folder you just accessed. This can be performed as many times as you would like to. Remember, you should always first find out which folder is causing the excessive inodes usage and clean that folder in particular instead of the parent one. 

To clear a folder from its files, please click on the broom icon next to the folder you would like to clear. 

This will bring a warning that will suggest you first download the folder over FTP before clearing it, as otherwise, you might lose critical data. Also, you will be presented with the option to upgrade your plan to the next tier in line in case you do not want to clear any of the files that you host. 

Once you finally confirm that the folder should be cleared, our plugin will remove all the files within the folder and will return a message of success. 

That’s it! Pretty easy. 

Practical Maintenance Tips to Reduce Inode Usage

Identify WordPress Image-Generated Files

WordPress often creates multiple resized versions of every uploaded image. To identify these files, open your website files through cPanel File Manager or FTP and check:

/wp-content/uploads/

Look for image files with size suffixes in their names, such as:

• image-name-150x150.jpg
• image-name-300x300.jpg
• image-name-768x512.jpg

These files are usually generated automatically by WordPress, themes, or plugins. Before deleting them, confirm whether your website still uses those image sizes. Removing active image thumbnails can cause missing images or broken layouts.

Clean Cache Folders Safely

Caching plugins can generate many temporary files. Common cache folders include:

• /wp-content/cache/
• /wp-content/uploads/cache/
• plugin-specific cache folders inside /wp-content/

Best practice is to clear the cache from the plugin’s dashboard first instead of deleting folders manually. If manual cleanup is needed, back up the account first and only remove temporary cache files, not plugin configuration files.

Know When to Upgrade Instead of Delete

Deleting files is not always the best solution. Consider upgrading your hosting plan or increasing available resources when:

• The files are required for normal website operation.
• The inode usage comes from legitimate content growth.
• The website has a large media library or eCommerce catalog.
• Multiple active websites are hosted under the same account.
• Cache files are necessary for performance and regenerate quickly after cleanup.

In these cases, increasing hosting resources may be safer than repeatedly deleting files that your website still needs.

Let’s Wrap It Up!

As you can see, having the right tools when you are in need is quite handy. Yes, the HostArmada Inodes Manager is merely a tool at your disposal, but it is the difference between night and day for someone who is not familiar with the SSH service, since, at the moment, there is no other way to maintain the inodes of your web hosting account.

HostArmada will continuously work in our clients’ best interest, providing new tools, improvements, and constant innovations for all our customers! If you have an idea for a service or a tool that can ease your Web Hosting experience, do not hesitate to reach out!

FAQs