Very Simple PHP File Upload (A Quick Example)

Welcome to a quick tutorial and simple example of how to handle a file upload in PHP. Some beginners will probably freak out on hearing “file upload”, but it is actually a very simple process.

That’s all for the basics, but let us walk through more examples in this guide – Read on!

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Source code on GitHub Gist

Just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

SORRY FOR THE ADS...

But someone has to pay the bills, and sponsors are paying for it. I insist on not turning Code Boxx into a "paid scripts" business, and I don't "block people with Adblock". Every little bit of support helps.

Buy Me A Coffee Code Boxx eBooks

 

 

STEP 1) HTML FILE UPLOAD FORM

<form action="2-upload.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
  <input type="file" name="upfile" required>
  <input type="submit" value="Upload">
</form>

That’s right, this is just a “normal” HTML form with an <input type="file"> field. Also, take note of enctype="multipart/form-data" – This is required for file uploads.

 

 

STEP 2) PHP FILE UPLOAD HANDLER

<?php
// (A) MOVE UPLOADED FILE TO DESTINATION
$source = $_FILES["upfile"]["tmp_name"];
$destination = $_FILES["upfile"]["name"];
$pass = move_uploaded_file($source, $destination);
 
/* (B) DONE - WHAT'S NEXT?
if ($pass) {
  // REDIRECT TO ANOTHER PAGE?
  header("Location: http://my-site.com/somewhere/");
  exit();
 
  // SHOW AN "UPLOAD OK PAGE"?
  // require "ok.html";
}
 
// (C) DEAL WITH ERRORS?
else {
  // SHOW ERROR MESSAGE - GOOD FOR DEBUGGING
  // BUT NOT ON A LIVE SERVER (SECURITY ISSUES)
  // print_r(error_get_last());
 
  // JUST SHOW GENERIC ERROR MESSAGE?
  exit("UPLOAD ERROR");
} 
*/

What is happening here is that PHP stores all uploaded files into a temporary folder by default, as set in upload_tmp_dir of the php.ini file. All we need to do is to move the uploaded file out of the temporary folder – move_uploaded_file(SOURCE, DESTINATION).

 

 

 

PHP.INI FILE UPLOAD SETTINGS

If you are having trouble with the file uploads, please ensure that uploads are enabled on your server. Just open up the php.ini file and check the following:

file_uploads = On
post_max_size = 10M
upload_max_filesize = 10M

• Make sure that the file_uploads is set to On, or all your uploads will fail no matter what.
• Set the post_max_size and upload_max_filesize to a reasonable size.

 

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• HTML File Input Field – MDN
• HTML Accept Attribute – MDN
• move_uploaded_file – PHP
• $_FILES – PHP
• Drag-and-drop upload – Code Boxx
• PHP Large File Uploads – Code Boxx
• Restrict Upload File Type– Code Boxx
• Restrict Upload File Size – Code Boxx