By Riazul Islam · · 2 min read · 192 views
Almost every web application requires file uploads:
Profile pictures
Documents
Images or videos for blogs
Reports for admin dashboards
Laravel makes file upload and storage easy and secure.
Laravel uses Filesystem API to handle files. Default configuration is in:
config/filesystems.php
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Common disks:
local → storage/app
public → storage/app/public (accessible via URL)
s3 → cloud storage
Create symbolic link to make public files accessible:
php artisan storage:link
Example: Uploading images
resources/views/upload.blade.php:
@extends('layouts.app')
@section('content')
<h1>Upload Image</h1>
@if(session('success'))
<div>{{ session('success') }}</div>
@endif
<form action="{{ route('upload.store') }}" method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">
@csrf
<input type="file" name="image">
<button type="submit">Upload</button>
</form>
@endsection
Key Points:
enctype="multipart/form-data" → required for file uploads
@csrf → security token
routes/web.php:
use App\Http\Controllers\UploadController;
Route::get('/upload', [UploadController::class,'create']);
Route::post('/upload', [UploadController::class,'store'])->name('upload.store');
php artisan make:controller UploadController
app/Http/Controllers/UploadController.php:
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
class UploadController extends Controller
{
public function create() {
return view('upload');
}
public function store(Request $request) {
$request->validate([
'image' => 'required|image|mimes:jpeg,png,jpg,gif|max:2048'
]);
$path = $request->file('image')->store('images','public');
return back()->with('success','Image uploaded successfully! Path: '.$path);
}
}
store('images', 'public') → stores in storage/app/public/images
Validation ensures file type and size restrictions
<img src="{{ asset('storage/'.$path) }}" alt="Uploaded Image" width="200">
asset('storage/...') → generates public URL
Storage::disk('public')->delete($path);
Removes the file from storage/app/public
<input type="file" name="images[]" multiple>
Controller:
foreach($request->file('images') as $image) {
$image->store('images','public');
}
Loops through files and stores each one
Set up .env:
FILESYSTEM_DRIVER=s3
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=your_region
AWS_BUCKET=your_bucket
Then store:
$path = $request->file('image')->store('images', 's3');
$url = Storage::disk('s3')->url($path);
Generates public URL for cloud files
This week you learned:
How to configure Laravel filesystem
How to create file upload forms
How to validate uploaded files
How to store files locally or in public folder
How to handle multiple file uploads and deletion
Optional: Store files in cloud storage (S3)