Web/API/FormData/append

The append() method of the FormData interface appends a new value onto an existing key inside a FormData object, or adds the key if it does not already exist.

The difference between FormData.set and append() is that if the specified key already exists, FormData.set will overwrite all existing values with the new one, whereas append() will append the new value onto the end of the existing set of values.

Note: This method is available in Web Workers.

Syntax

There are two versions of this method: a two and a three parameter version:

formData.append(name, value);
formData.append(name, value, filename);

Parameters

name: The name of the field whose data is contained in value.
value: The field's value. This can be a USVString or Blob (including subclasses such as File). If none of these are specified the value is converted to a string.
filename Optional: The filename reported to the server (a USVString), when a Blob or File is passed as the second parameter. The default filename for Blob objects is "blob". The default filename for File objects is the file's filename.

Note: If you specify a Blob as the data to append to the FormData object, the filename that will be reported to the server in the "Content-Disposition" header used to vary from browser to browser.

Returns

Void.

Example

The following line creates an empty FormData object:

var formData = new FormData(); // Currently empty

You can add key/value pairs to this using FormData.append:

formData.append('username', 'Chris');
formData.append('userpic', myFileInput.files[0], 'chris.jpg');

As with regular form data, you can append multiple values with the same name. For example (and being compatible with PHP's naming conventions by adding [] to the name):

formData.append('userpic[]', myFileInput.files[0], 'chris1.jpg');
formData.append('userpic[]', myFileInput.files[1], 'chris2.jpg');

This technique makes it simpler to process multi-file uploads because the resultant data structure is more conducive to looping.

If the sent value is different than String or Blob it will be automatically converted to String:

formData.append('name', true);
formData.append('name', 74);
formData.append('name', 'John');

formData.getAll('name'); // ["true", "74", "John"]

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
XMLHttpRequestThe definition of 'append()' in that specification.	Living Standard	Initial definition

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
`append`	Chrome Full support 7	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' Prior to Firefox 7, specifying a `Blob` as the data to append to the object, the filename reported in the `Content-Disposition` HTTP header was an empty string, resulting in errors on some servers. Starting with Firefox 7, the filename `blob` is sent.	IE Full support 10 Notes' Full support 10 Notes' Notes' With the "Include local directory pass when uploading files to a server" option enabled, IE will change the filename inside the `Blob` on the fly. To have direct control of the sent filename, the developer should send the filename as the third parameter value, i.e. `formData.append(name, value, filename)`.	Opera Full support 12	Safari Full support 5	WebView Android Full support 3 Notes' Full support 3 Notes' Notes' XHR in Android 4.0 sends empty content for `FormData` with `blob`.	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' Prior to Firefox 7, specifying a `Blob` as the data to append to the object, the filename reported in the `Content-Disposition` HTTP header was an empty string, resulting in errors on some servers. Starting with Firefox 7, the filename `blob` is sent.	Opera Android Full support 12	Safari iOS Full support 5	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`append` with filename	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 22	IE Full support Yes	Opera ?	Safari Full support 9	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 22	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS Full support 9	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
Compatibility unknown: Compatibility unknown
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.