Uploading Multiple Files and Directories

Handling multiple uploads

PHP can handle multiple file uploads. Since HTML5, the <input> element with type="file" allows you to select one or more files. To do so follow these steps:

<input type="file" name="upload[]" multiple>

1. Add multiple attribute. When the multiple attribute is specified, the file input allows the user to select more than one file.
2. Add square brackets [] to the name attribute. Adding square brackets to the name attribute submits multiple values as an array.

<?php
 if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST') {
  echo '<pre>';
  print_r($_FILES);
  echo '</pre>';
 }
?>
<form action="example.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
 <input type="file" name="upload[]" multiple>
 <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Upload">
</form>

You can see that the details of each file stored in a separate subarray. You can use the numeric keys to retrieve the details of each file, for example, the key 0 refer to the details of the first file in the array:

 $_FILES['upload']['name'][0]
 $_FILES['upload']['type'][0]
 $_FILES['upload']['size'][0] 

The key 1 refers to the details of the next file in the array and so on:

 $_FILES['upload']['name'][1]
 $_FILES['upload']['type'][1]
 $_FILES['upload']['size'][1] 

By running that array through a foreach loop, you can access each file’s details, like this:

<?php
 if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST') {
  //$files = isset($_FILES['upload']) ? $_FILES['upload'] : array();

  $files = $_FILES['upload'] ?? [];
  
  foreach ($files['name'] as $k => $v) {
   echo $files['name'][$k].'<br>';
   echo $files['size'][$k].'<br>';
   echo $files['type'][$k].'<br>';
   echo $files['tmp_name'][$k].'<br>';
   echo $files['error'][$k].'<br><br>';
  }

 }
?>
<form action="example.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
 <input type="file" name="upload[]" multiple>
 <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Upload">
</form>

Uploading entire directory or folder recursively

The directory picker webkitdirectory attribute in <input> element with type="file" allow you to select directories instead of files. To do so follow these steps:

<input type="file" name="upload[]" multiple webkitdirectory>

• Add webkitdirectory attribute. Use this directory picker attribute to select directories instead of files.
• Add multiple attribute. When the multiple attribute is specified, the file input allows the user to select more than one directory.
• Add square brackets [] to the name attribute. Adding square brackets to the name attribute submits multiple values as an array.

Note: When the webkitdirectory attribute is specified, the entire content of the directory/folder is sent to the server including the subdirectories. You can recreate the same directory structure on the server with the help of full_path ($_FILES['upload']['full_path'][index]) subkey.

The full path (full_path) is submitted by the browser, it does not always contain a real directory structure, and cannot be trusted.

<?php
 if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST') {
  $files = $_FILES['upload'] ?? [];

  foreach ($files['name'] as $k => $v) {
   if ($files['error'][$k] == UPLOAD_ERR_OK) {
    $name = $files['name'][$k];

    // full_path available since PHP 8.1
    $full_path = $files['full_path'][$k] ?? $name;

    // Browser didn't send the directory structure
    if ($name == $full_path ) {
     $uploadDir = 'upload/';
    } else {
     //remove filename from the full_path
     $path = str_replace($name, '', $full_path);
     $uploadDir = 'upload/'.$path;
     //if dir not exist on the server, create it
     if (! is_dir($uploadDir) ) {
      mkdir ($uploadDir, 0777, true)
       or die("Failed to create directory: $uploadDir");
     } 
    }

    if ( is_uploaded_file($files['tmp_name'][$k]) ) {
     $m = move_uploaded_file($files['tmp_name'][$k], $uploadDir.'/'.$name);
     if ($m === true)
      echo "$name uploaded successfully<br>";
    }
   }
  }
 }
?>
<form action="example.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
 <input type="file" name="upload[]" multiple webkitdirectory>
 <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Upload">
</form>

Note: You need to properly configure your PHP server or you’ll receive the following warning messages (depending on your server configuration):

• Warning: Maximum number of allowable file uploads has been exceeded…
• Warning: POST Content-Length of 68982407 bytes exceeds the limit of 41943040 bytes in Unknown on line 0

For detail, see Handling File Uploads tutorial.

---

Processing Forms in PHP: