@capacitor/filesystem

The Filesystem API provides a NodeJS-like API for working with files on the device.

Install

npm install @capacitor/filesystem
npx cap sync

iOS

To have files appear in the Files app, you must set the following keys to YES in Info.plist:

• UIFileSharingEnabled (Application supports iTunes file sharing)
• LSSupportsOpeningDocumentsInPlace (Supports opening documents in place)

Read about Configuring iOS for help.

Android

If using Directory.Documents or Directory.ExternalStorage, this API requires the following permissions be added to your AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

Read about Setting Permissions in the Android Guide for more information on setting Android permissions.

Note that Directory.Documents and Directory.ExternalStorage are only available on Android 9 or older.

Working with large files may require you to add android:largeHeap="true" to the <application> tag in AndroidManifest.xml.

Understanding Directories and Files

iOS and Android have additional layers of separation between files, such as special directories that are backed up to the Cloud, or ones for storing Documents. The Filesystem API offers a simple way to scope each operation to a specific special directory on the device.

Additionally, the Filesystem API supports using full file:// paths, or reading content:// files on Android. Simply leave out the directory param to use a full file path.

Example

import { Filesystem, Directory, Encoding } from '@capacitor/filesystem';

const writeSecretFile = async () => {
  await Filesystem.writeFile({
    path: 'secrets/text.txt',
    data: 'This is a test',
    directory: Directory.Documents,
    encoding: Encoding.UTF8,
  });
};

const readSecretFile = async () => {
  const contents = await Filesystem.readFile({
    path: 'secrets/text.txt',
    directory: Directory.Documents,
    encoding: Encoding.UTF8,
  });

  console.log('secrets:', contents);
};

const deleteSecretFile = async () => {
  await Filesystem.deleteFile({
    path: 'secrets/text.txt',
    directory: Directory.Documents,
  });
};

const readFilePath = async () => {
  // Here's an example of reading a file with a full file path. Use this to
  // read binary data (base64 encoded) from plugins that return File URIs, such as
  // the Camera.
  const contents = await Filesystem.readFile({
    path: 'file:///var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/22A433FD-D82D-4989-8BE6-9FC49DEA20BB/Documents/text.txt',
  });

  console.log('data:', contents);
};

API

• readFile(...)
• writeFile(...)
• appendFile(...)
• deleteFile(...)
• mkdir(...)
• rmdir(...)
• readdir(...)
• getUri(...)
• stat(...)
• rename(...)
• copy(...)
• checkPermissions()
• requestPermissions()
• Interfaces
• Type Aliases
• Enums

readFile(...)

readFile(options: ReadFileOptions) => Promise<ReadFileResult>

Read a file from disk

Param	Type
options	ReadFileOptions

Returns: Promise<ReadFileResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

writeFile(...)

writeFile(options: WriteFileOptions) => Promise<WriteFileResult>

Write a file to disk in the specified location on device

Param	Type
options	WriteFileOptions

Returns: Promise<WriteFileResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

appendFile(...)

appendFile(options: AppendFileOptions) => Promise<void>

Append to a file on disk in the specified location on device

Param	Type
options	AppendFileOptions

Since: 1.0.0

---

deleteFile(...)

deleteFile(options: DeleteFileOptions) => Promise<void>

Delete a file from disk

Param	Type
options	DeleteFileOptions

Since: 1.0.0

---

mkdir(...)

mkdir(options: MkdirOptions) => Promise<void>

Create a directory.

Param	Type
options	MkdirOptions

Since: 1.0.0

---

rmdir(...)

rmdir(options: RmdirOptions) => Promise<void>

Remove a directory

Param	Type
options	RmdirOptions

Since: 1.0.0

---

readdir(...)

readdir(options: ReaddirOptions) => Promise<ReaddirResult>

Return a list of files from the directory (not recursive)

Param	Type
options	ReaddirOptions

Returns: Promise<ReaddirResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

getUri(...)

getUri(options: GetUriOptions) => Promise<GetUriResult>

Return full File URI for a path and directory

Param	Type
options	GetUriOptions

Returns: Promise<GetUriResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

stat(...)

stat(options: StatOptions) => Promise<StatResult>

Return data about a file

Param	Type
options	StatOptions

Returns: Promise<StatResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

rename(...)

rename(options: RenameOptions) => Promise<void>

Rename a file or directory

Param	Type
options	CopyOptions

Since: 1.0.0

---

copy(...)

copy(options: CopyOptions) => Promise<CopyResult>

Copy a file or directory

Param	Type
options	CopyOptions

Returns: Promise<CopyResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

checkPermissions()

checkPermissions() => Promise<PermissionStatus>

Check read/write permissions. Required on Android, only when using Directory.Documents or Directory.ExternalStorage.

Returns: Promise<PermissionStatus>

Since: 1.0.0

---

requestPermissions()

requestPermissions() => Promise<PermissionStatus>

Request read/write permissions. Required on Android, only when using Directory.Documents or Directory.ExternalStorage.

Returns: Promise<PermissionStatus>

Since: 1.0.0

---

Interfaces

ReadFileResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
data	string	The string representation of the data contained in the file	1.0.0

ReadFileOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
path	string	The path of the file to read	1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to read the file from	1.0.0
encoding	Encoding	The encoding to read the file in, if not provided, data is read as binary and returned as base64 encoded. Pass Encoding.UTF8 to read data as string	1.0.0

WriteFileResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
uri	string	The uri where the file was written into	1.0.0

WriteFileOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Default	Since
path	string	The path of the file to write		1.0.0
data	string	The data to write		1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to store the file in		1.0.0
encoding	Encoding	The encoding to write the file in. If not provided, data is written as base64 encoded. Pass Encoding.UTF8 to write data as string		1.0.0
recursive	boolean	Whether to create any missing parent directories.	false	1.0.0

AppendFileOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
path	string	The path of the file to append	1.0.0
data	string	The data to write	1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to store the file in	1.0.0
encoding	Encoding	The encoding to write the file in. If not provided, data is written as base64 encoded. Pass Encoding.UTF8 to write data as string	1.0.0

DeleteFileOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
path	string	The path of the file to delete	1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to delete the file from	1.0.0

MkdirOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Default	Since
path	string	The path of the new directory		1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to make the new directory in		1.0.0
recursive	boolean	Whether to create any missing parent directories as well.	false	1.0.0

RmdirOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Default	Since
path	string	The path of the directory to remove		1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to remove the directory from		1.0.0
recursive	boolean	Whether to recursively remove the contents of the directory	false	1.0.0

ReaddirResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
files	FileInfo[]	List of files and directories inside the directory	1.0.0

FileInfo

Prop	Type	Description	Since
name	string	Name of the file or directory.
type	'directory' | 'file'	Type of the file.	4.0.0
size	number	Size of the file in bytes.	4.0.0
ctime	number	Time of creation in milliseconds. It's not available on Android 7 and older devices.	4.0.0
mtime	number	Time of last modification in milliseconds.	4.0.0
uri	string	The uri of the file.	4.0.0

ReaddirOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
path	string	The path of the directory to read	1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to list files from	1.0.0

GetUriResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
uri	string	The uri of the file	1.0.0

GetUriOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
path	string	The path of the file to get the URI for	1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to get the file under	1.0.0

StatResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
type	'directory' | 'file'	Type of the file.	1.0.0
size	number	Size of the file in bytes.	1.0.0
ctime	number	Time of creation in milliseconds. It's not available on Android 7 and older devices.	1.0.0
mtime	number	Time of last modification in milliseconds.	1.0.0
uri	string	The uri of the file	1.0.0

StatOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
path	string	The path of the file to get data about	1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory to get the file under	1.0.0

CopyOptions

Prop	Type	Description	Since
from	string	The existing file or directory	1.0.0
to	string	The destination file or directory	1.0.0
directory	Directory	The Directory containing the existing file or directory	1.0.0
toDirectory	Directory	The Directory containing the destination file or directory. If not supplied will use the 'directory' parameter as the destination	1.0.0

CopyResult

Prop	Type	Description	Since
uri	string	The uri where the file was copied into	4.0.0

PermissionStatus

Prop	Type
publicStorage	PermissionState

Type Aliases

RenameOptions

CopyOptions

PermissionState

'prompt' | 'prompt-with-rationale' | 'granted' | 'denied'

Enums

Directory

Members	Value	Description	Since
Documents	'DOCUMENTS'	The Documents directory On iOS it's the app's documents directory. Use this directory to store user-generated content. On Android it's the Public Documents folder, so it's accessible from other apps. It's not accesible on Android 10 unless the app enables legacy External Storage by adding android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true" in the application tag in the AndroidManifest.xml. It's not accesible on Android 11 or newer.	1.0.0
Data	'DATA'	The Data directory On iOS it will use the Documents directory. On Android it's the directory holding application files. Files will be deleted when the application is uninstalled.	1.0.0
Library	'LIBRARY'	The Library directory On iOS it will use the Library directory. On Android it's the directory holding application files. Files will be deleted when the application is uninstalled.	1.1.0
Cache	'CACHE'	The Cache directory Can be deleted in cases of low memory, so use this directory to write app-specific files that your app can re-create easily.	1.0.0
External	'EXTERNAL'	The external directory On iOS it will use the Documents directory On Android it's the directory on the primary shared/external storage device where the application can place persistent files it owns. These files are internal to the applications, and not typically visible to the user as media. Files will be deleted when the application is uninstalled.	1.0.0
ExternalStorage	'EXTERNAL_STORAGE'	The external storage directory On iOS it will use the Documents directory On Android it's the primary shared/external storage directory. It's not accesible on Android 10 unless the app enables legacy External Storage by adding android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true" in the application tag in the AndroidManifest.xml. It's not accesible on Android 11 or newer.	1.0.0

Encoding

Members	Value	Description	Since
UTF8	'utf8'	Eight-bit UCS Transformation Format	1.0.0
ASCII	'ascii'	Seven-bit ASCII, a.k.a. ISO646-US, a.k.a. the Basic Latin block of the Unicode character set This encoding is only supported on Android.	1.0.0
UTF16	'utf16'	Sixteen-bit UCS Transformation Format, byte order identified by an optional byte-order mark This encoding is only supported on Android.	1.0.0