Where does PERSISTENT file system storage store with chrome?

Question

When doing webkitRequestFileSystem in window.PERSISTENT option in Google Chrome, where on my filesystem do files get written? I'd like to drop files there and have Chrome interact with them while I'm building and debugging this app.

Hemi

Answer 1

For me, at least on Mac OSX, they're stored under /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/File System for me. If you're using profiles, there will be profile directories instead of Default. However, each origin's saved files/folders are obfuscated under directories that won't be easy for you to interact with.

For debugging the Filesystem API, you have a few options:

1. Use this extension to view/remove files.
2. See the tips here: http://updates.html5rocks.com/2011/08/Debugging-the-Filesystem-API That includes viewing stored files very easily using the filesystem: URLs.
3. Drop the Filesystem Playground demo (http://html5-demos.appspot.com/static/filesystem/filer.js/demos/index.html) into your origin. You can use that to view/rename/delete files/folders easily.
4. Chrome DevTools now has support for the Filesystem API for viewing the files stored under an origin. To use that, you will need to enable the Developer Tools experiments in about:flags, restart, hit the gear in the devtools (lower right corner), and enable the 'FileSystem inspection' under the experimental tab.

Camorra

Does the extension work with the webkit fileSystem? I am using it and it doesn't. It only works for me when using localStorage. – Timothee

Currently (at the moment I'm writing this) that extension doesn't work with chrome extensions but with sites only. – Omer

I use persistent file system just before recording audio. But my cordova app works fine in ios 6 & 7 versions but fails in ios8. – Stocktonontees

@ebidel, "FileSystem inspection" where? Seems to be gone. – Emeldaemelen

Yea, looks like they removed the experiment from DevTools – Camorra

@ebidel, Link chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/… down too. – Emeldaemelen

I ended up using filesystem:http://localhost/persistent/file_name123 to display the file but it's completely useless for huge files. – Emeldaemelen

Answer 2

Just for completeness: on linux it goes into ~/.config/google-chrome/Default/File\ System/

Territerrible

Answer 3

On Windows XP, it is here: c:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\File System\.

On Windows 7, the location is C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\File System.

It's not very useful to browse it because file and dir names are obfuscated (but content in files is unchanged).

As ebidel wrote the best way is using browser of filesystem: urls that incorporated into Chrome. It's excellent! You can get the url using fs.root.toURL() where fs is a FileSystem object that you get, for example, from window.webkitRequestFileSystem().

Omer

If you get the URL via fs.root.toURL(), then you can also open it in the browser to explore your files. I tried it with a temporary storage url (filesystem:http://localhost:63342/temporary/) and it worked just fine in Chrome 65. – Unkempt

Answer 4

Seems like the filesystem storage is encoded to prevent exactly what was trying to do. I ended up writing a very simple file manager available here. Start up any web server (I like mongoose for its 0 setup) and go to the /filemanager.html route

Hemi

Answer 5

I saved a file called log.txt on MAC

It ended up at ~/Library/Application\Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Storage/ext/panbljeniblfmcakpphmjmmnpcaibipi/def/File\ System/iso/p/00/

with file name 00000 and no ext

Jenkins

Answer 6

If you are using MAC OX, and you have more than one profile on your chrome, or you cannot find default in the path, replace default with profile. But depending on number of profiles you have, it could be profile 1, profile 2, etc

Domiciliate