{"id":8113,"date":"2026-05-10T15:29:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/?post_type=manual_kb&#038;p=8113"},"modified":"2026-06-08T09:41:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T07:41:50","slug":"understanding-the-inode-limit-file-and-folder-counts","status":"publish","type":"manual_kb","link":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/understanding-the-inode-limit-file-and-folder-counts\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Inode Limit (File and Folder Counts)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"translation-block translation-block-merged\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When managing your <strong>mybox-hosted<\/strong> account, you may encounter a limit on <strong>Inodes<\/strong>. An inode is a data structure in a Unix-style file system that describes a file-system object. In simpler terms, your inode count represents the total number of individual items stored on your disk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A common question is whether this limit applies only to files or if folders are included as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/understanding-the-inode-limit-file-and-folder-counts\/#Do_Directories_Folders_Count_Toward_the_Inode_Limit\" >Do Directories (Folders) Count Toward the Inode Limit?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/understanding-the-inode-limit-file-and-folder-counts\/#Why_is_There_an_Inode_Limit\" >Why is There an Inode Limit?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/understanding-the-inode-limit-file-and-folder-counts\/#Common_Causes_of_High_Inode_Usage\" >Common Causes of High Inode Usage<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/understanding-the-inode-limit-file-and-folder-counts\/#How_to_Reduce_Your_Inode_Count\" >How to Reduce Your Inode Count<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/understanding-the-inode-limit-file-and-folder-counts\/#Summary\" >Summary<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_Directories_Folders_Count_Toward_the_Inode_Limit\"><\/span>Do Directories (Folders) Count Toward the Inode Limit?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"mybox-1546172803\" class=\"mybox-content mybox-entity-placement\"><div class=\"early-access-banner-inpost\">\r\n  <div class=\"banner-left-inpost\">\r\n    <div class=\"icon-box-inpost\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/square-info-icon.svg\" alt=\"Info\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"text-box-inpost\">\r\n      <span class=\"label-inpost\"><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Early access<\/span><\/span>\r\n      <h4><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Still need help?<\/span><\/h4>\r\n      <p><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Contact our customer service team.<\/span><\/p>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <div class=\"banner-right-inpost\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/panel.mybox.com\/helpdesk2\/v\/list\/\" class=\"banner-button-inpost\"><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Message us<\/span><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"translation-block translation-block-merged\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Yes.<\/strong> Every single directory, subdirectory, and folder on your account consumes <strong>one inode<\/strong>, just like a single file does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Files:<\/strong> 1 File = 1 Inode.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Folders:<\/strong> 1 Folder = 1 Inode.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Emails:<\/strong> 1 Email message = 1 Inode.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have a folder containing 10 files, that structure consumes a total of <strong>11 inodes<\/strong> (10 for the files and 1 for the containing folder).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_There_an_Inode_Limit\"><\/span>Why is There an Inode Limit?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The inode limit is a mechanical necessity for server health and file system performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>System Stability:<\/strong> Even if you have plenty of disk space (gigabytes), having millions of tiny files can overwhelm the server&#8217;s ability to index and back up data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Performance:<\/strong> A file system with too many inodes becomes slow when performing basic tasks, such as listing files in a directory or running a security scan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Resource Fairness:<\/strong> In a shared or elastic environment, inode limits prevent a single user from accidentally (or intentionally) straining the disk&#8217;s metadata capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Common_Causes_of_High_Inode_Usage\"><\/span>Common Causes of High Inode Usage<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you find yourself approaching your limit, the culprit is rarely a few large files. Instead, it is usually thousands of tiny ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cache Folders:<\/strong> Plugins like WP Rocket or Autoptimize can generate thousands of individual cache files if not cleared regularly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Email Overload:<\/strong> Every individual email in your <strong>mail.mybox.com<\/strong> account (including the &#8220;Trash&#8221; and &#8220;Spam&#8221; folders) counts as an inode.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Session Files:<\/strong> Old PHP session files that haven&#8217;t been automatically cleaned up can pile up in the thousands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Image Thumbnails:<\/strong> WordPress often creates 5\u201310 different sizes for every single image you upload. Uploading 100 photos could result in 1,000 inodes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Reduce_Your_Inode_Count\"><\/span>How to Reduce Your Inode Count<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you need to lower your usage to stay within your <strong>mybox<\/strong> plan limits, focus on these areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Clear Your Trash:<\/strong> Empty the &#8220;Trash&#8221; in your WordPress dashboard and your email account.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Audit Your Plugins:<\/strong> Remove any deactivated plugins. Even if they aren&#8217;t &#8220;running,&#8221; their files and folders still count toward your limit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Manage Image Sizes:<\/strong> Use a plugin to prevent WordPress from generating thumbnail sizes you don&#8217;t actually use in your theme.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clean Temp Folders:<\/strong> Check your <code>tmp<\/code> or <code>logs<\/code> directories via FTP\/SSH and delete old, unnecessary logs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Summary\"><\/span>Summary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the world of hosting, it isn&#8217;t just the size of the data that matters, but the <strong>quantity<\/strong> of items. Because both files and folders count toward your inode limit, maintaining a clean and organized directory structure is essential for the long-term performance and reliability of your website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","manualknowledgebasecat":[25,28],"manual_kb_tag":[1793,2433,6197,8097,8418,8419,8420,8421,8422,8423],"class_list":["post-8113","manual_kb","type-manual_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","manualknowledgebasecat-hosting","manualknowledgebasecat-others","manual_kb_tag-email-messages","manual_kb_tag-mybox-hosting","manual_kb_tag-file-system","manual_kb_tag-mybox-account","manual_kb_tag-inode-limit","manual_kb_tag-inodes","manual_kb_tag-unix-file-system","manual_kb_tag-directories-count","manual_kb_tag-folders-count","manual_kb_tag-inode-usage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/8113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/manual_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/8113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8114,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/8113\/revisions\/8114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"manualknowledgebasecat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manualknowledgebasecat?post=8113"},{"taxonomy":"manual_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb_tag?post=8113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}