Uploading files in Laravel - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Uploading Files in Laravel

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple web application where users can upload profile pictures. You want to create a form to upload an image file and save it on the server using Laravel.

🎯 Goal: Build a Laravel file upload feature that accepts an image file from a form, validates it, and stores it in the storage/app/public directory.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a form with a file input named profile_picture

Add a route to handle the file upload POST request

Write a controller method to validate and store the uploaded file

Save the uploaded file in the storage/app/public directory with the original filename

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Uploading files is common in web apps for user avatars, documents, or media. This project shows how to handle file uploads securely and easily in Laravel.

💼 Career

Many web developer jobs require handling file uploads. Knowing Laravel's file upload process is essential for building user-friendly and secure applications.

1

Create the file upload form

Create a Blade view file with a form that uses POST method and enctype="multipart/form-data". Add a file input with the name profile_picture and a submit button.

Laravel

    @csrf
    
    

Need a hint?

Remember to set enctype="multipart/form-data" on the form to allow file uploads.

2

Add the upload route

In routes/web.php, add a POST route for /upload that uses the UploadController and its store method.

Laravel

    @csrf
    
    Upload


// Add POST route for /upload here

Need a hint?

Use Route::post with the URL /upload and controller UploadController@store.

3

Write the controller method to validate and store the file

In app/Http/Controllers/UploadController.php, create the store method. Validate the request to require a file named profile_picture that is an image. Then store the file in the public disk preserving the original filename.

Laravel

    @csrf
    
    Upload


use App\Http\Controllers\UploadController;

Route::post('/upload', [UploadController::class, 'store']);

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class UploadController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        // Validate and store file here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use $request->validate() to check the file is required and an image. Use storeAs to save the file with its original name in the public disk.

4

Complete the file upload feature

Add a redirect back to the form with a success message after storing the file in the store method.

Laravel

    @csrf
    
    Upload


use App\Http\Controllers\UploadController;

Route::post('/upload', [UploadController::class, 'store']);

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class UploadController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $validated = $request->validate([
            'profile_picture' => 'required|image'
        ]);

        $request->file('profile_picture')->storeAs('public', $request->file('profile_picture')->getClientOriginalName());

        // Add redirect with success message here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use redirect()->back()->with() to send the user back with a success message.