What is Hotlink Protection and How to Enable it using cPanel

May 18, 2022 / cPanel & WHM

This article will help you know what Hotlink Protection is and how you can enable it using cPanel. Before knowing how to enable it, let’s know what exactly is Hotlink Protection.

What is Hotlink Protection?

  1. Hotlink protection blocks other websites from linking directly to your files and images. Other websites will only be able to link to file types you haven’t specified.
  2. It helps in saving Bandwidth.
  3. It works by blocking external websites from attaching to your content directly.
  4. If someone loves an image on your site and incorporates it on their own, the image will be downloaded every time they view it. This consumes some of your bandwidth.
  5. No one will be able to steal your bandwidth after you enable Hotlink Protection.

So, due to this reason, it is always good to enable Hotlink Protection. Let’s see how:

  1. Log in to cPanel.
    cPanel login
  2. Under the “Security” section, select “Hotlink Protection”.
    Hotlink Protection
  3. You can see the “Enable” button. Hit this button.
    enable
  4. Examine the list of authorized URLs on the page. Any subdomains you’ve set up will be used in this list. As needed, add or remove URLs.
  5. Examine the list of file types that have been prohibited. The most common image kinds are prohibited by default, but you can secure your media by adding any file extension here.
  6. If you want to allow direct requests, ensure the applicable box is checked.
  7. Fill the box “Redirect the request to the following URL:” with the URL that specifies the URL to which Hotlink queries should be redirected.
    configure Hotlink Protection
  8. You will get a message that Hotlink protection is enabled.
    hotlink protection enabled

This way, you can enable Hotlink Protection using cPanel to save your bandwidth. We hope now you understand the reason behind enabling Hotlink Protection and how to do it.

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