How to Install Drupal by Yourself (Very Simple Step-by-Step Guide)

Hi everyone,

In this post, I will show you how to install Drupal manually. If your hosting does not have an auto installer (like Softaculous), or you want to learn how to do it by yourself, this guide is for you.

I will keep it very easy and step-by-step, using simple words so anyone can follow.

✅ Things You Need Before You Start

Before you can install Drupal, make sure you have these:

1. A domain name (example: yourwebsite.com)

2. A web hosting account (with cPanel or similar)

3. File Manager or FTP access

4. A MySQL database

5. The Drupal zip file from the official website

📥 Step 1: Download Drupal

1. Go to the official website:
   https://www.drupal.org/download

2. Download the latest stable version of Drupal (choose the .zip file).

3. Save the file on your computer.

📁 Step 2: Upload Drupal to Your Hosting

Now you need to upload Drupal to your website.

📌 Option 1: Use File Manager (Easy way)

1. Login to your hosting control panel (like cPanel).

2. Open File Manager.

3. Go to the public_html folder (or the folder for your domain).

4. Click Upload, and choose the Drupal zip file.

5. After upload, right-click the file and choose Extract.

6. You will get a folder named something like drupal-10.x. Open that folder, select all files, and move them to public_html.

7. Delete the original Drupal folder and zip file to keep your files clean.

📌 Option 2: Use FTP

You can also use FTP software like FileZilla to upload the extracted files to public_html.

🛢️ Step 3: Create a MySQL Database

Now let’s create the database for Drupal.

1. Login to your hosting control panel.

2. Go to MySQL® Databases.

3. Create a new database (e.g. drupaldb).

4. Create a new database user and password.

5. Add the user to the database and give All Privileges.

💡 Write down these details:

• Database name

• Database username

• Database password

• Database host (usually localhost)

🌍 Step 4: Start Drupal Installation

Now visit your website in your browser:
https://yourdomain.com

You will see the Drupal installation page.

🧾 Step 5: Choose Language

1. Select your preferred language (like English).

2. Click Save and continue.

⚙️ Step 6: Choose Installation Profile

1. Choose Standard installation (good for beginners).

2. Click Save and continue.

🗃️ Step 7: Set Up the Database

On this page:

• Database Type → MySQL, MariaDB, or equivalent

• Database Name → Enter the name you created earlier

• Database Username → The user you created

• Database Password → The password you created

• Advanced Options → You can leave this part unless your host uses a different database host (use localhost usually)

Click Save and continue.

Drupal will now install. This may take a few minutes.

📝 Step 8: Site Configuration

Now enter your website info:

• Site Name → Example: My Drupal Site

• Site Email Address → For alerts and password resets

• Admin Username → For logging in (e.g. admin)

• Admin Password → A strong password

• Confirm Password

• Default Country

• Time Zone

Click Save and continue.

🎉 Step 9: You're Done!

You should now see a page that says:

Congratulations, you installed Drupal!

You can now:

• Visit your site front page

• Go to the admin dashboard

Admin dashboard URL is usually:
https://yourdomain.com/user/login

Login using the username and password you created.

🔧 What You Can Do Next

• Add a theme (design) to change how your site looks

• Install modules to add features (like contact form, SEO, etc.)

• Create pages, blogs, and menus

• Set user roles and permissions

💡 Tips

• Always update your Drupal when new versions come out

• Use strong passwords

• Don’t forget to make backups of your website often

Drupal is a very powerful tool to build websites. Even though installing it manually looks hard, it becomes easy when you follow the steps slowly.

If you need help or get stuck, feel free to reply below. I will do my best to help you out.

Thank you for reading! 😊