Directory listing is a default server feature that shows the contents of a directory (folder) when there is no index file such as index.php or index.html in the folder.
When directory listing is enabled, visitors can see a list of all files and subdirectories within that directory and they can also download any file, and that might pose a security risk as it may expose any sensitive files or configuration information.
Disabling directory listing prevents such exposures, it forces the server to show a “403 Forbidden” error if there is no index file.
This can either be done manually by adding a line of code on .htaccess file as shown below:
Step-1 Open your cPanel dashboard.
Step-2 Go to “File Manager” and open the root directory of your website (usually public_html) or any directory where you want to disable directory listing.
Step-3 Look for the .htaccess file in the root directory.
Step-4 If it doesn’t exist, create a new file named .htaccess.
Step-5 Add this line inside the .htaccess file: “Options -Indexes”
Step-6 Save the file and exit.
Directory listing is now disabled for your site.
Alternatively,
Step-1 On cPanel, navigate to the “Advanced” section,
Click the “Indexes” link or icon.
Step-2 Click the folder icon and enter a directory
Step-3 Click the directory name to configure a directory and turn indexing on or off.
Step-4 Select the “No Indexing” option
Step-5 Click the “Save” button.
Another way of doing the same thing is:
Step-1 Navigate to the “File Manager”
Step-2 Right-click the directory and select “Manage Indices”.
Step-3 This automatically takes you to the “Indexes” page (where we were in step 2 of the above method).
Step-4 Click the folder icon and enter a directory
Step-5 Click the directory name to configure a directory and turn indexing on or off.
Step-6 Select the “No Indexing” option
Step-7 Click the “Save” button.
Online directory listings can help with visibility, but they also come with several disadvantages that website owners should carefully consider. Thus, following any of the above methods is going to disable the directory listing.