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The MySQL Databases tool is the full-control version of database management in cPanel. It does everything the Database Wizard does, plus rename, repair, and user privilege editing for accounts you’ve already created. Open it from cPanel home → Databases → MySQL Databases.
Manage My Databases page with all sections visible
For a step-by-step walkthrough that bundles all of this into one flow, use the Database Wizard instead.

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Create a database

1

Type a name and click Create

The page opens with Create New Database at the top. Type a short name (wordpress, shop, staging). cPanel automatically prefixes it with your account username, so what gets created is username_wordpress.
Create New Database form with prefix shown
2

Confirm

A green confirmation appears and the database shows up in Current Databases further down the page. It’s empty. No tables yet. Use phpMyAdmin or your app’s installer to populate it.

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Create a database user

A database without a user that can connect to it is read-only-by-nobody. Every app needs a user.
1

Scroll to MySQL Users → Add New User

Type a username (gets prefixed: username_wpuser) and a password. The Password Generator button creates a strong random one. Click Use Password to copy it back into the form.
Add New User form with password generator
2

Save the password somewhere safe

cPanel won’t show the password again. Paste it into your password manager or your app’s config file before you leave the page.
3

Click Create User

The user is created but isn’t linked to any database yet. Next step does that.
1

Scroll to Add User to Database

Pick the user from the first dropdown and the database from the second.
2

Pick privileges

The next page lists every MySQL privilege as a checkbox. For most web apps, click ALL PRIVILEGES at the top and you’re done.
Manage User Privileges checklist with ALL PRIVILEGES highlighted
Use a narrower set if you’re paranoid: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE covers normal app traffic, while CREATE, ALTER, DROP, INDEX, REFERENCES are needed during installs and migrations. If you remove the latter group after install, future plugin updates will fail.
3

Click Make Changes

The user now has the right access to the database. You can plug the credentials into your app.

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Modify an existing database

In Modify Databases, click into a database name to:
  • Check Database: runs CHECK TABLE on every table. Fast, read-only, finds corruption.
  • Repair Database: runs REPAIR TABLE on tables that need it. Only works on MyISAM/Aria. InnoDB tables are repaired by the engine itself; this button is a no-op for them.
  • Rename Database: changes the name. Watch out, any app config pointing at the old name will break the second you rename.

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Modify users

In Current Users, the action column lets you:
  • Change Password: resets the password. Update your app config with the new one.
  • Rename: changes the username. Your app’s config needs the new name.
  • Delete: removes the user. The database isn’t deleted, only the user that was connecting to it.
Renaming or deleting a database/user the live site is using will take the site down until the config is updated. Take a JetBackup snapshot first if it’s a production database.

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Common issues

The full prefixed name (username_yourname) has a 64-character limit. If you have a long account username, you only have a few characters left for the database name. Use a short suffix like wp or db1.
Three things to check, in order: the user exists in Current Users; the user is linked to the database (Privileged Users column on the database row should show the user); and the password you typed into the app config matches what you set when creating the user. The “I forget the password” tell is the user existing but not being on the database.
Restore it from your nightly JetBackup snapshot. Go to Database Backups, find the database name, click Restore.

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Next

Run SQL against the database

phpMyAdmin’s SQL tab is where you’d run queries.

Connect from your laptop

Whitelist your IP for external MySQL connections.

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Need a hand?