Get file size before uploading

Question

Is there any way to find out the file size before uploading the file using AJAX / PHP in change event of input file?

Larkins

and obviously duplicate of stackoverflow.com/search?q=file+size+before+upload – Fara

possible duplicate of How to check file input size with jQuery? – Serenity

Possible duplicate of JavaScript file upload size validation – Gony

Answer 1

For the HTML bellow

<input type="file" id="myFile" />

try the following:

//binds to onchange event of your input field
$('#myFile').bind('change', function() {

  //this.files[0].size gets the size of your file.
  alert(this.files[0].size);

});

See following thread:

How to check file input size with jQuery?

Chema

Isn't the files array non-existent on internet explorer (older versions)? – Ionian

Yes, this does not work pre IE 10 and only has partial support in android and ios. caniuse.com/fileapi. If it were only this easy... – Mitchelmitchell

I suppose the result is in bytes? – Lamontlamontagne

@ErdalG. Good question! MDN is missing the documentation, but FileList.files is an array-like of File objects, which is an extension of Glob. And according to the spec, Glob indeed defines the size property as the number of bytes (0 for an empty file). So yes, the result is in bytes. – Wallie

Answer 2

<script type="text/javascript">
function AlertFilesize(){
    if(window.ActiveXObject){
        var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
        var filepath = document.getElementById('fileInput').value;
        var thefile = fso.getFile(filepath);
        var sizeinbytes = thefile.size;
    }else{
        var sizeinbytes = document.getElementById('fileInput').files[0].size;
    }

    var fSExt = new Array('Bytes', 'KB', 'MB', 'GB');
    fSize = sizeinbytes; i=0;while(fSize>900){fSize/=1024;i++;}

    alert((Math.round(fSize*100)/100)+' '+fSExt[i]);
}
</script>

<input id="fileInput" type="file" onchange="AlertFilesize();" />

Work on IE and FF

Douglasdouglashome

downvoted because the answer uses ActiveX. in 2015, even Microsoft is abandoning ActiveX. While it was a reasonable suggestion when given, I would recommend developers avoid this now and in the future. – Hibbard

I like this solution, because only older versions of IE will return true for window.ActiveXObject. – Kunstlied

@scottstone I don't understand why you down voted all answers supporting legacy browsers? This answer is much cleaner than the ones using browser fingerprints and by no means recommand anyone to use ActiveX. – Prohibitionist

@NicolasBouvrette - I agree that this answer is much cleaner than the others, but I can't remove the downvote at this point. The original question did not ask for compatibility with old versions of IE, and this answer doesn't advise readers that most of the code is there to support 5+ year old versions of IE. – Hibbard

@scottstone Actually one more tangible point from my view on why not to use ActiveX is because it displays a warning message in IE which is an horrible (scary?) user experience. – Prohibitionist

Thanks for your answer. May I ask a question about your solution please? I notice if I use <input id="fileInput" type="file" onchange="AlertFilesize();" />, the function works. However, if I change to <s:file name="upload"size="30" label="Upload" id="fileInput" onchange="AlertFilesize();"/>, the function will not work. Would you mind let me know my mistake please? Thank you very much. – Mcclimans

I tried to change function AlertFilesize(){ to function AlertFilesize(value){ and then change<input id="fileInput" type="file" onchange="AlertFilesize();" /> to <s:file name="upload"size="30" label="Upload" id="fileInput" onchange="AlertFilesize(this.value);"/>, but still not working. – Mcclimans

I think, it shoud be: parseFloat(Math.floor(fSize*100)/100) +''+fSExt[i]; – Mousetail

Answer 3

Here's a simple example of getting the size of a file before uploading. It's using jQuery to detect whenever the contents are added or changed, but you can still get files[0].size without using jQuery.

$(document).ready(function() {
  $('#openFile').on('change', function(evt) {
    console.log(this.files[0].size);
  });
});

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<form action="upload.php" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="POST" id="uploadform">
  <input id="openFile" name="img" type="file" />
</form>

Here's a more complete example, some proof of concept code to Drag and Drop files into FormData and upload via POST to a server. It includes a simple check for file size.

Singles

Answer 4

Best solution working on all browsers ;)

function GetFileSize(fileid) {
    try {
        var fileSize = 0;
        // for IE
        if(checkIE()) { //we could use this $.browser.msie but since it's deprecated, we'll use this function
            // before making an object of ActiveXObject, 
            // please make sure ActiveX is enabled in your IE browser
            var objFSO = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
            var filePath = $("#" + fileid)[0].value;
            var objFile = objFSO.getFile(filePath);
            var fileSize = objFile.size; //size in b
            fileSize = fileSize / 1048576; //size in mb 
        }
        // for FF, Safari, Opeara and Others
        else {
            fileSize = $("#" + fileid)[0].files[0].size //size in b
            fileSize = fileSize / 1048576; //size in mb 
        }
        alert("Uploaded File Size is" + fileSize + "MB");
    }
    catch (e) {
        alert("Error is :" + e);
    }
}

from http://www.dotnet-tricks.com/Tutorial/jquery/HHLN180712-Get-file-size-before-upload-using-jquery.html

UPDATE : We'll use this function to check if it's IE browser or not

function checkIE() {
    var ua = window.navigator.userAgent;
    var msie = ua.indexOf("MSIE ");

    if (msie > 0 || !!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv\:11\./)){  
        // If Internet Explorer, return version number
        alert(parseInt(ua.substring(msie + 5, ua.indexOf(".", msie))));
    } else {
        // If another browser, return 0
        alert('otherbrowser');
    }

    return false;
}

Bride

downvoted because the answer uses ActiveX. in 2015, even Microsoft is abandoning ActiveX. While it was a reasonable suggestion when given, I would recommend developers avoid this now and in the future. – – Hibbard

$.browser was removed from jQuery in version 1.9 (deprecated since v 1.3). – Cherise

@scottstone this is for backward compability and that's not true Microsoft won't abdon ActiveX it is to much used in many things and here is the proof computerworld.com/article/2481188/internet/… – Bride

@SilvioDelgado Changed and updated they removed $.browser into a plugin so we'll need just a small test for IE browser (works with all versions) – Bride

Answer 5

I had the same problem and seems like we haven't had an accurate solution. Hope this can help other people.

After take time exploring around, I finally found the answer. This is my code to get file attach with jQuery:

var attach_id = "id_of_attachment_file";
var size = $('#'+attach_id)[0].files[0].size;
alert(size);

This is just the example code for getting the file size. If you want do other stuffs, feel free to change the code to satisfy your needs.

Daryldaryle

I like this one because it doesn't need to be put on the change event like the most popular solution. And I also like the fact you have given me permission to change the code to satisfy my needs :) – Praedial

Answer 6

$(document).ready(function() {
  $('#openFile').on('change', function(evt) {
    console.log(this.files[0].size);
  });
});

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<form action="upload.php" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="POST" id="uploadform">
  <input id="openFile" name="img" type="file" />
</form>

Disarming

Answer 7

Browsers with HTML5 support has files property for input type. This will of course not work in older IE versions.

var inpFiles = document.getElementById('#fileID');
for (var i = 0; i < inpFiles.files.length; ++i) {
    var size = inpFiles.files.item(i).size;
    alert("File Size : " + size);
}

Conservationist

Answer 8

Please do not use ActiveX as chances are that it will display a scary warning message in Internet Explorer and scare your users away.

If anyone wants to implement this check, they should only rely on the FileList object available in modern browsers and rely on server side checks only for older browsers (progressive enhancement).

function getFileSize(fileInputElement){
    if (!fileInputElement.value ||
        typeof fileInputElement.files === 'undefined' ||
        typeof fileInputElement.files[0] === 'undefined' ||
        typeof fileInputElement.files[0].size !== 'number'
    ) {
        // File size is undefined.
        return undefined;
    }

    return fileInputElement.files[0].size;
}

Prohibitionist

Answer 9

ucefkh's solution worked best, but because $.browser was deprecated in jQuery 1.91, had to change to use navigator.userAgent:

function IsFileSizeOk(fileid) {
    try {
        var fileSize = 0;
        //for IE
        if (navigator.userAgent.match(/msie/i)) {
            //before making an object of ActiveXObject, 
            //please make sure ActiveX is enabled in your IE browser
            var objFSO = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
            var filePath = $("#" + fileid)[0].value;
            var objFile = objFSO.getFile(filePath);
            var fileSize = objFile.size; //size in b
            fileSize = fileSize / 1048576; //size in mb 
        }
        //for FF, Safari, Opeara and Others
        else {
            fileSize = $("#" + fileid)[0].files[0].size //size in b
            fileSize = fileSize / 1048576; //size in mb 
        }
        return (fileSize < 2.0);
    }
    catch (e) {
        alert("Error is :" + e);
    }
}

Predictory

Answer 10

you need to do an ajax HEAD request to get the filesize. with jquery it's something like this

  var req = $.ajax({
    type: "HEAD",
    url: yoururl,
    success: function () {
      alert("Size is " + request.getResponseHeader("Content-Length"));
    }
  });

Desired

But if do that file input will clear(empty) ?? Can u make a example thank – Phuongphycology

Answer 11

Get the size of the file by files.item(i).size.

You should try this.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/validation-of-file-size-while-uploading-using-javascript-jquery/

Or

Answer 12

You can use PHP filesize function. During upload using ajax, please check the filesize first by making a request an ajax request to php script that checks the filesize and return the value.

Coinage

Answer 13

You can by using HTML5 File API: http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/file/dndfiles/

However you should always have a fallback for PHP (or any other backend language you use) for older browsers.

Menander

Answer 14

Personally, I would say Web World's answer is the best today, given HTML standards. If you need to support IE < 10, you will need to use some form of ActiveX. I would avoid the recommendations that involve coding against Scripting.FileSystemObject, or instantiating ActiveX directly.

In this case, I have had success using 3rd party JS libraries such as plupload which can be configured to use HTML5 apis or Flash/Silverlight controls to backfill browsers that don't support those. Plupload has a client side API for checking file size that works in IE < 10.

Hibbard