input type=file element | input type=file object

Creates a file upload object with a text box and Browse button.

HTML5 A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML, Section 4.10

HTML information

Closing Tag	forbidden
CSS Display	inline

DOM Information

Inheritance Hierarchy

Node

Element

HTMLElement

input type=file

Members

The input type=file object has these types of members:

Events
Methods
Properties

Events

The input type=file object has these events.

Event	Description
click	Fires when the user clicks the left mouse button on the object. Note Starting with IE11, this event fires a MSPointerEvent object instead of MouseEvent. You can use the MouseEvent.pointerType property to determine the type of contact that the click originated from (touch, mouse, or pen).
abort	Fires when the user aborts the download.
activate	Fires when the object is set as the active element.
afterupdate	Fires on a databound object after successfully updating the associated data in the data source object.
beforeactivate	Fires immediately before the object is set as the active element.
beforecopy	Fires on the source object before the selection is copied to the system clipboard.
beforecut	Fires on the source object before the selection is deleted from the document.
beforeeditfocus	Fires before an object contained in an editable element enters a UI Activation state or when an editable container object is control selection.
beforepaste	Fires on the target object before the selection is pasted from the system clipboard to the document.
beforeupdate	Fires on a databound object before updating the associated data in the data source object.
blur	Fires when the object loses the input focus.
cellchange	Fires when data changes in the data provider.
change	Fires when the contents of the object or selection have changed.
contextmenu	Fires when the user clicks the right mouse button in the client area, opening the context menu. Note Starting with IE11, this event fires a MSPointerEvent object instead of MouseEvent. You can use the MouseEvent.pointerType property to determine the type of contact that the click originated from (touch, mouse, or pen).
controlselect	Fires when the user is about to make a control selection of the object.
cut	Fires on the source element when the object or selection is removed from the document and added to the system clipboard.
dataavailable	Fires periodically as data arrives from data source objects that asynchronously transmit their data.
datasetchanged	Fires when the data set exposed by a data source object changes.
dblclick	Fires when the user double-clicks the object. Note Starting with IE11, this event fires a MSPointerEvent object instead of a MouseEvent. You can use the MouseEvent.pointerType property to determine the type of contact that the click originated from (touch, mouse, or pen).
deactivate	Fires when the activeElement is changed from the current object to another object in the parent document.
drag	Fires on the source object continuously during a drag operation.
dragend	Fires on the source object when the user releases the mouse at the close of a drag operation.
dragenter	Fires on the target element when the user drags the object to a valid drop target.
dragleave	Fires on the target object when the user moves the mouse out of a valid drop target during a drag operation.
dragover	Fires on the target element continuously while the user drags the object over a valid drop target.
dragstart	Fires on the source object when the user starts to drag a text selection or selected object.
drop	Fires on the target object when the mouse button is released during a drag-and-drop operation.
error	Fires when an error occurs during object loading.
errorupdate	Fires on a databound object when an error occurs while updating the associated data in the data source object.
filterchange	Fires when a visual filter changes state or completes a transition.
focus	Fires when the object receives focus.
focusin	Fires for an element just prior to setting focus on that element.
focusout	Fires for the current element with focus immediately after moving focus to another element.
help	Fires when the user presses the F1 key while the client is the active window.
input	Occurs when the text content of an element is changed through the user interface.
keydown	Fires when the user presses a key.
keypress	Fires when the user presses an alphanumeric key.
layoutcomplete	Fires when the print or print preview layout process finishes filling the current LayoutRect object with content from the source document.
load	Fires immediately after the client loads the object.
losecapture	Fires when the object loses the mouse capture.
mousedown	Fires when the user clicks the object with either mouse button.
mouseenter	Fires when the user moves the mouse pointer into the object.
mouseleave	Fires when the user moves the mouse pointer outside the boundaries of the object.
mousemove	Fires when the user moves the mouse over the object.
mouseout	Fires when the user moves the mouse pointer outside the boundaries of the object.
mouseover	Fires when the user moves the mouse pointer into the object.
mouseup	Fires when the user releases a mouse button while the mouse is over the object.
mousewheel	Fires when the wheel button is rotated.
move	Fires when the object moves.
moveend	Fires when the object stops moving.
movestart	Fires when the object starts to move.
mselementresize	Fires when certain HTML elements are resized.
onbeforedeactivate	Fires immediately before the activeElement is changed from the current object to another object in the parent document.
ondatasetcomplete	Fires to indicate that all data is available from the data source object.
oninvalid	Provides specified alert text if an input element is invalid.
onkeyup	Fires when the user releases a key.
onselect	Fires when the current selection changes.
paste	Fires on the target object when the user pastes data, transferring the data from the system clipboard to the document.
propertychange	Fires when a property changes on the object. Note The onpropertychange event is only supported in conjunction with the legacy attachEvent IE-only event registration model, which has deprecated since Internet Explorer 9 in favor of the W3C standard "addEventListener" event model.
readystatechange	Fires when the state of the object has changed.
reset	Fires when the user resets a form.
resize	Fires when the size of the object is about to change.
resizeend	Fires when the user finishes changing the dimensions of the object in a control selection.
resizestart	Fires when the user begins to change the dimensions of the object in a control selection.
rowenter	Fires to indicate that the current row has changed in the data source and new data values are available on the object.
rowexit	Fires just before the data source control changes the current row in the object.
rowsdelete	Fires when rows are about to be deleted from the recordset.
rowsinserted	Fires just after new rows are inserted in the current recordset.
scroll	Fires when the user repositions the scroll box in the scroll bar on the object.
selectstart	Fires when the object is being selected.

Methods

The input type=file object has these methods.

Method	Description
addBehavior	Attaches a behavior to the element.
appendChild	Appends an element as a child to the object.
applyElement	Makes the element either a child or parent of another element.
attachEvent	Note attachEvent is no longer supported. Starting with IE11, use addEventListener. For info, see Compatibility changes. Binds the specified function to an event, so that the function gets called whenever the event fires on the object.
blur	Causes the element to lose focus and fires the onblur event.
clearAttributes	Removes all attributes and values from the object.
click	Simulates a click by causing the onclick event to fire.
cloneNode	Copies a reference to the object from the document hierarchy.
compareDocumentPosition	Compares the position of two nodes in a document.
componentFromPoint	Returns the component located at the specified coordinates via certain events.
contains	Checks whether the given element is contained within the object.
detachEvent	Unbinds the specified function from the event, so that the function stops receiving notifications when the event fires.
doScroll	Note doScroll is no longer supported. Starting with IE11, use scrollLeft or scrollTop. For info, see Compatibility changes. Simulates a click on a scroll bar component.
dragDrop	Initiates a drag event.
fireEvent	Fires a specified event on the object.
focus	Causes the element to receive the focus and executes the code specified by the onfocus event.
getAdjacentText	Returns the adjacent text string.
getAttribute	Retrieves the value of the specified attribute.
getAttributeNode	Retrieves an attribute object referenced by the attribute.name property.
getAttributeNodeNS	Gets an attribute object that matches the specified namespace and name.
getAttributeNS	Gets the value of the specified attribute within the specified namespace.
getBoundingClientRect	Retrieves an object that specifies the bounds of a collection of TextRectangle objects.
getClientRects	Retrieves a collection of rectangles that describes the layout of the contents of an object or range within the client. Each rectangle describes a single line.
getElementsByClassName	Gets a collection of objects that are based on the value of the class attribute.
getElementsByTagNameNS	Gets a collection of objects that are based on the specified element names within a specified namespace.
hasAttribute	Determines whether an attribute with the specified name exists.
hasAttributeNS	Determines whether an attribute that has the specified namespace and name exists.
hasAttributes	Determines whether one or more attributes exist for the object.
hasChildNodes	Returns a value that indicates whether the object has children.
insertAdjacentElement	Inserts an element at the specified location.
insertAdjacentHTML	Inserts the given HTML text into the element at the location.
insertAdjacentText	Inserts the given text into the element at the specified location.
insertBefore	Inserts an element into the document hierarchy as a child node of a parent object.
isDefaultNamespace	Indicates whether or not a namespace is the default namespace for a document.
isEqualNode	Determines if two nodes are equal.
isSameNode	Determines if two node references refer to the same node.
isSupported	Returns a value indicating whether or not the object supports a specific DOM standard.
lookupNamespaceURI	Gets the URI of the namespace associated with a namespace prefix, if any.
lookupPrefix	Gets the namespace prefix associated with a URI, if any.
mergeAttributes	Copies all read/write attributes to the specified element.
msMatchesSelector	Determines whether an object matches the specified selector.
normalize	Merges adjacent DOM objects to produce a normalized document object model.
querySelector	Retrieves the first DOM element node from descendants of the starting element node that match any selector within the supplied selector string.
querySelectorAll	Retrieves all DOM element nodes from descendants of the starting element node that match any selector within the supplied selector strings.
releaseCapture	Removes mouse capture from the object in the current document.
removeAttribute	Removes an attribute from an object.
removeAttributeNode	Removes an attribute object from the object.
removeAttributeNS	Removes the specified attribute from the object.
removeBehavior	Detaches a behavior from the element.
removeChild	Removes a child node from the object.
removeNode	Removes the object from the document hierarchy.
replaceAdjacentText	Replaces the text adjacent to the element.
replaceChild	Replaces an existing child element with a new child element.
replaceNode	Replaces the object with another element.
scrollIntoView	Causes the object to scroll into view, aligning it either at the top or bottom of the window.
select	Highlights the input area of a form element.
setActive	Sets the object as active without setting focus to the object.
setAttribute	Sets the value of the specified attribute.
setAttributeNode	Sets an attribute object node as part of the object.
setAttributeNodeNS	Sets an attribute object as part of the object.
setAttributeNS	Sets the value of the specified attribute within the specified namespace.
setCapture	Sets the mouse capture to the object that belongs to the current document.
swapNode	Exchanges the location of two objects in the document hierarchy.

Properties

The input type=file object has these properties.

Property	Access type	Description
accessKey		Sets or retrieves the access key for the object.
ATOMICSELECTION		Specifies whether the element and its contents must be selected as a whole, indivisible unit.
attributes		Retrieves a collection of attributes of the object.
canHaveChildren		Gets a value indicating whether the object can contain child objects.
canHaveHTML		Retrieves the value indicating whether the object can contain rich HTML markup.
childElementCount		Retrieves the number of immediate child nodes of the current element or a zero if the element does not contain any child nodes. childElementCount does not return all child nodes, only child nodes that are nodeType =1, or element nodes.
className		Sets or retrieves the class of the object.
clientHeight		Retrieves the height of the object including padding, but not including margin, border, or scroll bar.
clientLeft		Retrieves the distance between the offsetLeft property and the true left side of the client area.
clientTop		Retrieves the distance between the offsetTop property and the true top of the client area.
clientWidth		Retrieves the width of the object including padding, but not including margin, border, or scroll bar.
defaultValue		Sets or retrieves the initial contents of the object.
dir		Sets or retrieves the reading order of the object.
disabled		Sets or retrieves a value that indicates whether the user can interact with the object.
files	Read-only	Returns a FileList object on a file type input object.
firstChild		Gets a reference to the first child in the childNodes collection of the object.
firstElementChild		Retrieves a reference to the first child element, or NULL if there are no child elements.
form		Retrieves a reference to the form that the object is embedded in.
hideFocus		Sets or gets the value that indicates whether the object visibly shows that it has focus.
id		Sets or retrieves the string identifying the object.
innerHTML		Sets or retrieves the HTML between the start and end tags of the object.
innerText		Sets or retrieves the text between the start and end tags of the object.
isContentEditable		Gets the value that indicates whether the user can edit the contents of the object.
isDisabled		Gets the value that indicates whether the user can interact with the object.
isMultiLine		Retrieves the value indicating whether the content of the object contains one or more lines.
isTextEdit		Retrieves whether a TextRange object can be created using the object.
lang		Sets or retrieves the language to use.
language		Sets or retrieves the language in which the current script is written. Note This has been superceded by the type attribute for the script element. If you are using javascript alone, you don't need to specify a type or language with the script element.
lastChild		Gets a reference to the last child in the childNodes collection of an object.
lastElementChild		Retrieves a reference to the last child element or NULL if there are no child elements.
localName		Retrieves the local name of the fully qualified XML declaration for a node.
name		Sets or retrieves the name of the object.
namespaceURI		Retrieves the namespace URI of the fully qualified XML declaration for a node.
nextElementSibling		Retrieves a reference to the sibling element that immediately follows or NULL if the element does not have any sibling elements that follow it.
nextSibling		Retrieves a reference to the next child of the parent for the object.
nodeName		Gets the name of a particular type of node.
nodeType		Retrieves the type of the requested node.
nodeValue		Gets or sets the value of a node.
offsetHeight		Retrieves the height of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
offsetLeft		Retrieves the calculated left position of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
offsetParent		Retrieves a reference to the container object that defines the offsetTop and offsetLeft properties of the object.
offsetTop		Retrieves the calculated top position of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
offsetWidth		Retrieves the width of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
outerHTML		Sets or retrieves the object and its content in HTML.
outerText		Sets or retrieves the text of the object.
ownerDocument		Retrieves the document object associated with the node.
parentElement		Retrieves the parent object in the object hierarchy.
parentNode		Retrieves the parent object in the document hierarchy.
parentTextEdit		Retrieves the container object in the document hierarchy that can be used to create a TextRange containing the original object.
prefix		Retrieves the local name of the fully qualified XML declaration for a node.
previousElementSibling		Retrieves a reference to the immediately preceding sibling element or NULL if the element does not have any preceding siblings.
previousSibling		Gets a reference to the previous child of the parent for the object.
readyState		Retrieves a value that indicates the current state of the object.
recordNumber		Retrieves the ordinal record from the data set that generated the object.
role		Sets or retrieves the role for this element.
scopeName		Gets the namespace defined for the element. This property is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.
scrollHeight		Retrieves the scrolling height of the object.
scrollLeft		Sets or retrieves the distance between the left edge of the object and the leftmost portion of the content currently visible in the window.
scrollTop		Sets or retrieves the distance between the top of the object and the topmost portion of the content currently visible in the window.
scrollWidth		Retrieves the scrolling width of the object.
size		Sets or retrieves the size of the control.
sourceIndex		Retrieves the ordinal position of the object, in source order, as the object appears in the document's all collection.
style		Sets an inline style for the element.
tabIndex		Sets or retrieves the index that defines the tab order for the object.
tagName		Retrieves the tag name of the object.
tagUrn		Sets or gets the URN specified in the namespace declaration. This property is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.
textContent		Sets or retrieves the text content of an object and any child objects.
title		Sets or retrieves advisory information (a ToolTip) for the object.
type		Retrieves or initially sets the type of input control represented by the object.
uniqueID		Retrieves an autogenerated, unique identifier for the object.
uniqueNumber		Retrieves the element's unique number.
value		Sets or retrieves the displayed value for the control object. This value is returned to the server when the control object is submitted.
value		Retrieves the file name of the input object after the text is set by user input.
width		Sets or retrieves the calculated width of the object.

Standards information

HTML 4.01 Specification, Section 17.4
HTML5 A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML, Section 4.10

Remarks

For a file upload to take place:

The input type=file element must be enclosed within a form element.
A value must be specified for the name attribute of the input type=file element.
The methods attribute of the name element must be set to post.
The enctype attribute of the form element must be set to multipart/form-data.

Note For code samples, see Form controls part 1 and Form controls part 2: validation on the Windows Internet Explorer sample site.

To handle a file upload to the server, a server-side process must be running that can handle multipart/form-data submissions. For example, the Microsoft Posting Acceptor allows Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) to accept file uploads. Additional Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts that can handle multipart/form-data submissions are available on the Web.

Windows Internet Explorer 8 and later. When a file is selected by using the input type=file object, the value of the value property depends on the value of the "Include local directory path when uploading files to a server" security setting for the security zone used to display the Web page containing the input object. For more information, see value.

Windows Internet Explorer 7 and later. By default, Internet Explorer does not include folder or directory path information when uploading files to sites in the Restricted zone. This improves security by preventing information disclosure. Also, to improve accessibility, the input type=file element now contains two accessible elements—one for the input box and one for the Browse button. This change is applicable only to accessibility tools; script implementations are not affected.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and later. For security reasons, the input type=file element no longer accepts relative file paths. Microsoft Internet Explorer raises an Access Denied exception when the user attempts to submit a form containing an input type=file element that contains a relative path.

The input type=file element is available in HTML and script as of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. The file upload add-on is required to use the input type=file element in Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.02. Users can enter a file path in the text box or click the Browse button to browse the file system. When a file is uploaded, the file name is also submitted.

Normally, this element results in the creation of a text box with a Browse button on an HTML page. In Internet Explorer, the Browse button is connected to the Windows common file dialog.

For Windows app using JavaScript, the Browse button is connected to the file picker dialog. When the file picker UI returns a filename, the WWAHost.exe extracts the path from the filename and provides it to the input type=file element.

Examples

The following example lets the user choose one or more files, and then displays the choices. The files list can also be used to upload to a website.

HTML


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html >
<head>
    <title>Files property test</title> 
    <script type="text/javascript">
        function getFiles() {
            // Get input element
            myFileList = document.getElementById("myfiles");
            // loop through files property, using length to get number of files chosen
            for (var i = 0; i < myFileList.files.length; i++) {
                // display them in the div
                document.getElementById("display").innerHTML += "<br/>" + myFileList.files[i].name ;
            }
        }
</script>
</head>
<body>
<label>Use <strong>shift</strong> or <strong>ctrl</strong> click to pick a few files: 
<input type="file" multiple id="myfiles" onchange="getFiles();" /></label>

<div id="display"></div>
</body>
</html>

The following examples use the input type=file element to upload a file to a server. The first example requires Microsoft Posting Acceptor, which can be used with IIS or Personal Web Server.

This example uses HTML code to submit a file selected by the user to Cpshost.dll, which is installed with Posting Acceptor.

JavaScript



<form name="oForm"
   action="repost.asp"
   enctype="multipart/form-data"
   method="post">
<input type="file" name="oFile1"/>
<input type="submit" value="Upload File">
</form>

This example shows the Active Server Page (ASP) content of Repost.asp. Notice that the properties of the uploaded file are accessible from the submitted form.