This site is mobile accessible. Press the "Tap Here" button to use a different font-size.

Smartphone icons created by Freepik - Flaticon

6.6 PHP File Upload

With PHP, it is easy to upload files to the server.
However, with ease comes danger, so always be careful when allowing file uploads!

Configure The "php.ini" File

First, ensure that PHP is configured to allow file uploads.
In your "php.ini" file, search for the file_uploads directive, and set it to On:

file_uploads = On

Create The HTML Form

Next, create an HTML form that allow users to choose the image file they want to upload:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<form action="upload.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
  Select image to upload:
  <input type="file" name="fileToUpload" id="fileToUpload">
  <input type="submit" value="Upload Image" name="submit">
</form>

</body>
</html>

Some rules to follow for the HTML form above:
- Make sure that the form uses method="post"
- The form also needs the following attribute: enctype="multipart/form-data". It specifies which content-type to use when submitting the form
Without the requirements above, the file upload will not work.
Other things to notice:
- The type="file" attribute of the <input> tag shows the input field as a file-select control, with a "Browse" button next to the input control
The form above sends data to a file called "upload.php", which we will create next.

Create The Upload File PHP Script

The "upload.php" file contains the code for uploading a file:

<?php
$target_dir = "uploads/";
$target_file = $target_dir . basename($_FILES["fileToUpload"]["name"]);
$uploadOk = 1;
$imageFileType = strtolower(pathinfo($target_file,PATHINFO_EXTENSION));
// Check if image file is a actual image or fake image
if(isset($_POST["submit"])) {
  $check = getimagesize($_FILES["fileToUpload"]["tmp_name"]);
  if($check !== false) {
    echo "File is an image - " . $check["mime"] . ".";
    $uploadOk = 1;
  } else {
    echo "File is not an image.";
    $uploadOk = 0;
  }
}
?>

PHP script explained:
- $target_dir = "uploads/" - specifies the directory where the file is going to be placed
- $target_file specifies the path of the file to be uploaded
- $uploadOk=1 is not used yet (will be used later)
- $imageFileType holds the file extension of the file (in lower case)
- Next, check if the image file is an actual image or a fake image
Note: You will need to create a new directory called "uploads" in the directory where "upload.php" file resides. The uploaded files will be saved there.

Check if File Already Exists

Now we can add some restrictions.
First, we will check if the file already exists in the "uploads" folder. If it does, an error message is displayed, and $uploadOk is set to 0:

// Check if file already exists
if (file_exists($target_file)) {
  echo "Sorry, file already exists.";
  $uploadOk = 0;
}

Limit File Size

The file input field in our HTML form above is named "fileToUpload".
Now, we want to check the size of the file. If the file is larger than 500KB, an error message is displayed, and $uploadOk is set to 0:

// Check file size
if ($_FILES["fileToUpload"]["size"] > 500000) {
  echo "Sorry, your file is too large.";
  $uploadOk = 0;
}

Limit File Type

The code below only allows users to upload JPG, JPEG, PNG, and GIF files. All other file types gives an error message before setting $uploadOk to 0:

// Allow certain file formats
if($imageFileType != "jpg" && $imageFileType != "png" && $imageFileType != "jpeg"
&& $imageFileType != "gif" ) {
  echo "Sorry, only JPG, JPEG, PNG & GIF files are allowed.";
  $uploadOk = 0;
}

Complete Upload File PHP Script

The complete "upload.php" file now looks like this:

<?php
$target_dir = "uploads/";
$target_file = $target_dir . basename($_FILES["fileToUpload"]["name"]);
$uploadOk = 1;
$imageFileType = strtolower(pathinfo($target_file,PATHINFO_EXTENSION));

// Check if image file is a actual image or fake image
if(isset($_POST["submit"])) {
  $check = getimagesize($_FILES["fileToUpload"]["tmp_name"]);
  if($check !== false) {
    echo "File is an image - " . $check["mime"] . ".";
    $uploadOk = 1;
  } else {
    echo "File is not an image.";
    $uploadOk = 0;
  }
}

// Check if file already exists
if (file_exists($target_file)) {
  echo "Sorry, file already exists.";
  $uploadOk = 0;
}

// Check file size
if ($_FILES["fileToUpload"]["size"] > 500000) {
  echo "Sorry, your file is too large.";
  $uploadOk = 0;
}

// Allow certain file formats
if($imageFileType != "jpg" && $imageFileType != "png" && $imageFileType != "jpeg"
&& $imageFileType != "gif" ) {
  echo "Sorry, only JPG, JPEG, PNG & GIF files are allowed.";
  $uploadOk = 0;
}

// Check if $uploadOk is set to 0 by an error
if ($uploadOk == 0) {
  echo "Sorry, your file was not uploaded.";
// if everything is ok, try to upload file
} else {
  if (move_uploaded_file($_FILES["fileToUpload"]["tmp_name"], $target_file)) {
    echo "The file ". htmlspecialchars( basename( $_FILES["fileToUpload"]["name"])). " has been uploaded.";
  } else {
    echo "Sorry, there was an error uploading your file.";
  }
}
?>

Try the PHP File Upload

Complete PHP Filesystem Reference

For a complete reference of filesystem functions, go to W3Schools.com complete PHP Filesystem Reference.

PHP Fundamentals course home
Module 6. PHP Advanced

Navigate this module

Eventually the navigation links, above, will be replaced by these << (previous) and >> (next) buttons below.

Animated PHP icons used in the buttons provided by ICONS8.COM. Smartphone icons created by Freepik - Flaticon

Module 6 quiz

Example files created in this module:
The PHP Date() Function - Get a Date The PHP Date() Function - Automatic Copyright Year The PHP Date() Function - Get a Time The PHP Date() Function - Get Your Time Zone The PHP Date() Function - Create a Date With mktime() The PHP Date() Function - Create a Date From a String With strtotime() part 1 The PHP Date() Function - Create a Date From a String With strtotime()part 2 The PHP Date() Function - Create Dates From Strings With strtotime() The PHP Date() Function - Count The Number of Days To July 4 With strtotime() PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 1 PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 2 PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 3 PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 4 PHP Include Files - PHP require Example readfile() fopen() fgets() feof() fgetc() PHP File Handling - PHP readfile() Function PHP File Open/Read - PHP Open File - fopen() PHP File Open/Read - fgets() Read Single Line PHP File Open/Read - feof() Check End-Of-File PHP File Open/Read - fgetc() Read Single Character PHP File Upload PHP Cookies - Create/Retrieve a Cookie PHP Cookies - Modify a Cookie Value PHP Cookies - Delete a Cookie PHP Cookies - Check if Cookies are Enabled PHP Sessions - Start a PHP Session PHP Sessions - Get PHP Session Variable Values part 1 PHP Sessions - Get PHP Session Variable Values part 2 PHP Sessions - Modify a PHP Session Variable PHP Sessions - Destroy a PHP Session PHP Filters - The PHP Filter Extension PHP Filters - Sanitize a String PHP Filters - Validate an Integer PHP Filters - filter_var() and Problem With 0 PHP Filters - Validate an IP Address PHP Filters - Sanitize and Validate an Email Address PHP Filters - Sanitize and Validate a URL PHP Filters Advanced - Validate an Integer Within a Range PHP Filters Advanced - Validate IPv6 Address PHP Filters Advanced - Validate URL That Must Contain QueryString PHP Filters Advanced - Remove Characters With ASCII Value > 127 PHP Callback Functions PHP Callback Functions - Anonymous Function PHP Callback Functions - Callbacks in User Defined Functions PHP and JSON - json_encode() part 1 PHP and JSON - json_encode() part 2 PHP and JSON - json_decode() part 1 PHP and JSON - json_decode() part 2 PHP and JSON - Accessing the Decoded Values part 1 PHP and JSON - Accessing the Decoded Values part 2 PHP and JSON - Looping Through the Values part 1 PHP and JSON - Looping Through the Values part 2 PHP Exceptions - Throwing an Exception PHP Exceptions - The try...catch Statement PHP Exceptions - The try...catch...finally Statement part 1 PHP Exceptions - The try...catch...finally Statement part 2 PHP Exceptions - The Exception Object