How to Check If a File Exists in PHP

09/05/2021
Contents
In this article, you will learn how to check if a file exists in PHP.
PHP file_exists() Function
To check if a file exists in PHP, you can use the file_exists() function:
<?php
if (file_exists($file)) {
echo "The file exists.";
} else {
echo "The file does not exist.";
}
?>
Where $file
is the path to the file you want to check.
The file_exists() function in PHP is a simple way to check if a file exists on the server. The function returns TRUE
if the file exists, and FALSE
if it doesn’t.
Here’s an example of how to use file_exists() to check if a file exists before attempting to read its contents:
<?php
$file = 'example.txt';
if (file_exists($file)) {
$content = file_get_contents($file);
echo "File contents: $content";
} else {
echo "File does not exist.";
}
?>
In this example, if the file exists, its contents will be read and displayed. If the file does not exist, an error message will be displayed.
Note: the file_exists() function is case-sensitive, so make sure to use the correct case for the file name.