With hotlinking, other websites embed your images directly from your server. They use up your bandwidth without visitors ever reaching your site. Hotlink Protection prevents this.
Enable hotlink protection
- Log in to cPanel.
- In the Security section, click Hotlink Protection.
- If it says Hotlink protection is currently disabled, click Enable.
Adjust the settings
- URLs to allow access: lists your own domains. Add further permitted addresses, for example a subdomain such as
https://shop.yourdomain.ch. - Block direct access for the following extensions: file types to protect, for example
jpg,jpeg,gif,png,webp. - Redirect the request to the following URL: optionally, an address to which external requests are redirected.
After making changes, click Submit.
Note: If you use a CDN or embed images in newsletters, add those addresses as allowed too, otherwise the images will not be displayed there.
