What is .htaccess? [ force ssl using htaccess ]
.htaccess is a configuration file for use on web servers running the Apache Web Server software.

1.Where can you find the .htaccess file?
.htaccess file will be stored inside your website directory.If you cant see .htaccess file in your cpanel. On top of your cpanel account inside file manager on top right corner you can find settings, enable show hidden files, save it. Refresh the page to see the file.You can edit the file accordinly.
2.How to force SSL using htaccess file ?
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
Simple paste the code in your .htaccess file and that it , your site will show a padlock and no more displaying insecure site.
3.How to upgrade or set the php version using .htaccess file ?
If you want your wordpress/website to run the php version to 5.5 , simply paste the following code to your file
<FilesMatch "\.(php4|php5|php7|php3|php2|php|phtml)$">
SetHandler application/x-lsphp55
</FilesMatch>
If you want your wordpress/website to run the php version to 7.0 , simply paste the following code to your file
<FilesMatch "\.(php4|php5|php7|php3|php2|php|phtml)$">
SetHandler application/x-lsphp70
</FilesMatch>
4.How can you enable GZIP compression using .htaccess file?
<ifmodule mod_deflate.c>
# Compress HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Text, XML and fonts
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-opentype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-truetype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
# Remove browser bugs (only needed for really old browsers)
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
Header append Vary User-Agent
</ifmodule>
5.Enable browsing cache via .htaccess file
You can change the month or period of time,till when the cache should expire or refresh it by itself
# BEGIN Expire headers
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
# Turn on the module.
ExpiresActive on
# Set the default expiry times.
ExpiresDefault "access plus 2 days"
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/javascript "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/ico "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/html "access plus 600 seconds"
</IfModule>
# END Expire headers
6.How to disable cache via htaccess file?
Simply paste the code to your htaccess file.
#Disables GZIP
SetEnv no-gzip 1
#Turns off the expires headers for Apache
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive Off
</IfModule>
# Disable Caching
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Cache-Control "no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate"
Header set Pragma "no-cache"
Header set Expires 0
</IfModule>