In certain situations, resetting your account to its original state can be the most effective way to resolve persistent issues or undo unintended changes. This process restores the default settings and file structure, effectively giving you a clean starting point. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to safely reset your account while minimising the risk of data loss.
Performing this procedure will erase all e-mails, settings, and uploaded data from your account. Databases are usually retained, but you can delete them manually later if needed.
Before proceeding, make sure to back up any important e-mails and data from your account (for example, using FTP and a program like Thunderbird) and note down your settings.
1. Log in to DirectAdmin.
If you do not have any aliases or pointers, proceed to step 5.
2. In the menu, go to 'Account Management' → 'Domain Pointers'.
3. Delete all domains from the list. Make a note of the domain names listed here.
4. When the confirmation pop-up appears, click 'Confirm' to delete the pointers.
5. In the menu, go to 'Account Management' → 'Domain Setup'.
6. Select your domain and click on 'Delete'.
7. When the confirmation pop-up appears, check 'Delete web data', and click 'Confirm' to delete your domain.
8. Then, within the same screen, click on 'Add new'.
9. Re-enter your domain name and click on 'Create'.
If you receive a message that your domain already exists, something went wrong during the removal process. Retrace your steps to verify that the domain was properly deleted. Check whether the domain is still listed in your account or settings. If the issue persists after verifying, please contact us for further assistance so we can help resolve the problem.
10. If applicable, go back to 'Account Management' → 'Domain Pointers' and re-add all the aliases you previously had. If you did not have any additional domains pointing to the main domain, you can skip this step.
You can now restore your data and check whether your website is accessible again. If you encounter a 'Forbidden' error, it is usually caused by a missing index file in the public_html folder. Refer to this guide for instructions.
If the issue persists, please contact us. We may need to recreate your account. This will permanently remove your databases, so be sure to create a backup beforehand.