Web/API/FileList

An object of this type is returned by the files property of the HTML <input> element; this lets you access the list of files selected with the <input type="file"> element. It's also used for a list of files dropped into web content when using the drag and drop API; see the DataTransfer object for details on this usage.

Note: Prior to Gecko 1.9.2, the input element only supported a single file being selected at a time, meaning that the FileList would contain only one file. Starting with Gecko 1.9.2, if the input element's multiple attribute is true, the FileList may contain multiple files.

Using the file list

All <input> element nodes have a files attribute of type FileList on them which allows access to the items in this list. For example, if the HTML includes the following file input:

<input id="fileItem" type="file">

The following line of code fetches the first file in the node's file list as a File object:

var file = document.getElementById('fileItem').files[0];

Method overview

File item(index);

Properties

Attribute	Type	Description
`length`	`integer`	A read-only value indicating the number of files in the list.

Methods

item()

Returns a File object representing the file at the specified index in the file list.

 File item(
   index
 );

Parameters

index: The zero-based index of the file to retrieve from the list.

Return value

The File representing the requested file.

Example

This example iterates over all the files selected by the user using an input element:

// fileInput is an HTML input element: <input type="file" id="myfileinput" multiple>
var fileInput = document.getElementById("myfileinput");

// files is a FileList object (similar to NodeList)
var files = fileInput.files;
var file;

// loop through files
for (var i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {

    // get item
    file = files.item(i);
    //or
    file = files[i];

    alert(file.name);
}

Here is a complete example.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<!--multiple is set to allow multiple files to be selected-->

<input id="myfiles" multiple type="file">

</body>

<script>

var pullfiles=function(){ 
    // love the query selector
    var fileInput = document.querySelector("#myfiles");
    var files = fileInput.files;
    // cache files.length 
    var fl = files.length;
    var i = 0;

    while ( i < fl) {
        // localize file var in the loop
        var file = files[i];
        alert(file.name);
        i++;
    }    
}

// set the input element onchange to call pullfiles
document.querySelector("#myfiles").onchange=pullfiles;

//a.t
</script>

</html>

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
File APIThe definition of 'FileList' in that specification.	Working Draft
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'selected files' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`FileList`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support 11.1	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 11.1	Safari iOS Full support 3.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`item`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`length`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE ?	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
Compatibility unknown: Compatibility unknown