If you want to update the PHP version applicable to your hosting plan as a whole, you can do it directly in hPanel.
In case you'd like to change the PHP version for only one of your domains, subdomains, or a subfolder inside any of these, you can do so by adding a line of code on the .htaccess file:
Step 1 - Open the .htaccess file
Go to Websites → Dashboard, search for File Manager on the sidebar and click on it:
Then, access the folder to which you would like to apply a different PHP version. If you want to edit a domain, access its public_html folder. For a subdomain, the corresponding folder will be inside the domain's public_html folder:
For a specific folder, go to the desired folder's path. Once in the correct location, open the .htaccess file by double-clicking on it.
If the file doesn't exist, you can create it directly in the File Manager. Make sure to include a dot (.) at the beginning of the filename!
Step 2 - Edit the .htaccess file
Add the following code to your .htaccess file (at the very beginning of it):
<FilesMatch "\.(php4|php5|php3|php2|php|phtml)$">
SetHandler application/x-lsphp74
</FilesMatch>
Replacing the application/x-lsphp74 portion of the code with the version that you would like to use. Check this table for the possible values:
PHP version | Code |
7.3 | application/x-lsphp73 |
7.4 | application/x-lsphp74 |
8.0 | application/x-lsphp80 |
8.1 | application/x-lsphp81 |
8.2 | application/x-lsphp82 |
8.3 | application/x-lsphp83 |
It is recommended to use only PHP version 7.3 or higher. Lower versions are deprecated and can generate security risks and performance issues on your website.
NOTES
To check if the change was applied correctly, you can create a phpinfo.php file.
Using this method to change the PHP versions will not include PHP extensions and options.
Using the
php -vcommand on SSH will show the PHP version of the hosting plan, not the domain or subdomain.