Example of File Picker in React Native

Here is an Example of File Picker in React Native. For picking a file or a document we will use a library called react-native-document-picker. Which provides DocumentPicker component which is very helpful to pick any type of document from your mobile memory.

How to Use

react-native-document-picker library provides a DocumentPicker component in which you can set the file type you want to pick and accordingly it will provide you the option to choose the file.

File picker provides you the option to choose single or multiple files. Here is the code snippet of DocumentPicker we have used in this Example

To Pick Single document or File

try {
  const res = await DocumentPicker.pick({
    type: [DocumentPicker.types.allFiles],
    //There can me more options as well
    // DocumentPicker.types.allFiles
    // DocumentPicker.types.images
    // DocumentPicker.types.plainText
    // DocumentPicker.types.audio
    // DocumentPicker.types.pdf
  });
  //Printing the log realted to the file
  console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
  console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
  console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
  console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
  console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
  //Setting the state to show single file attributes
  this.setState({ singleFile: res });
} catch (err) {
  //Handling any exception (If any)
  if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
    //If user canceled the document selection
    alert('Canceled from single doc picker');
  } else {
    //For Unknown Error
    alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
    throw err;
  }
}

try {

const res = await DocumentPicker.pick({

type: [DocumentPicker.types.allFiles],

//There can me more options as well

// DocumentPicker.types.allFiles

// DocumentPicker.types.images

// DocumentPicker.types.plainText

// DocumentPicker.types.audio

// DocumentPicker.types.pdf

});

//Printing the log realted to the file

console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));

console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);

console.log('Type : ' + res.type);

console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);

console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);

//Setting the state to show single file attributes

this.setState({ singleFile: res });

} catch (err) {

//Handling any exception (If any)

if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {

//If user canceled the document selection

alert('Canceled from single doc picker');

} else {

//For Unknown Error

alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));

throw err;

}

To Pick Multiple documents or Files

try {
  const results = await DocumentPicker.pickMultiple({
    type: [DocumentPicker.types.images],
    //There can me more options as well find above
  });
  for (const res of results) {
    //Printing the log realted to the file
    console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
    console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
    console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
    console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
    console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
  }
  //Setting the state to show multiple file attributes
  this.setState({ multipleFile: results });
} catch (err) {
  //Handling any exception (If any)
  if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
    //If user canceled the document selection
    alert('Canceled from multiple doc picker');
  } else {
    //For Unknown Error
    alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
    throw err;
  }
}

try {

const results = await DocumentPicker.pickMultiple({

type: [DocumentPicker.types.images],

//There can me more options as well find above

});

for (const res of results) {

//Printing the log realted to the file

console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));

console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);

console.log('Type : ' + res.type);

console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);

console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);

}

//Setting the state to show multiple file attributes

this.setState({ multipleFile: results });

} catch (err) {

//Handling any exception (If any)

if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {

//If user canceled the document selection

alert('Canceled from multiple doc picker');

} else {

//For Unknown Error

alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));

throw err;

}

In this example below, we will open a File Picker on a click of a button and will show the selected File URI, File Type, File name and File Size on the Text component. So Let’s get started with the Example.

To Make a React Native App

Getting started with React Native will help you to know more about the way you can make a React Native project. We are going to use react-native init to make our React Native App. Assuming that you have node installed, you can use npm to install the react-native-cli command line utility. Open the terminal and go to the workspace and run

npm install -g react-native-cli

Run the following commands to create a new React Native project

react-native init ProjectName

If you want to start a new project with a specific React Native version, you can use the --version argument:

react-native init ProjectName --version X.XX.X

react-native init ProjectName --version react-native@next

This will make a project structure with an index file named App.js in your project directory.

Installation of Dependency

To use DocumentPicker we need to install react-native-document-picker package. To install this

Open the terminal and jump into your project

cd ProjectName

1	cd ProjectName

Run the following command

npm install react-native-document-picker --save

1	npm install react-native-document-picker --save

This command will copy all the dependencies into your node_module directory, You can find the directory in node_module the directory named react-native-document-picker.

Linking of Dependency

After the updation of React Native 0.60, they have introduced autolinking feature means we do not require to link the library but they have also mentioned that some libraries need linking and react-native-document-picker is one of those cases. So for that we need to link the library using

react-native link react-native-document-picker

1	react-native link react-native-document-picker

CocoaPods Installation

Now we need to install pods

cd ios && pod install && cd ..

1	cd ios && pod install && cd ..

Permission to access External Storage for Android

We are going to access external storage so we need to add some permission to the AndroidManifest.xml file.
So we are going to add the following permissions in the AndroidManifest.xml

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

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

Permission	Purpose
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE	To Read the content of the SD card

For more about the permission, you can see this post.

Code for the File Picker in React Native

Open App.js in any code editor and the Replace the code with the following code

App.js

/*This is an example of File Picker in React Native*/
import React from 'react';
import {
  StyleSheet,
  Text,
  View,
  Button,
  TouchableOpacity,
  ScrollView,
  Image,
} from 'react-native';
import DocumentPicker from 'react-native-document-picker';

export default class App extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    //Initialization of the state to store the selected file related attribute
    this.state = {
      singleFile: '',
      multipleFile: [],
    };
  }
  async selectOneFile() {
    //Opening Document Picker for selection of one file
    try {
      const res = await DocumentPicker.pick({
        type: [DocumentPicker.types.allFiles],
        //There can me more options as well
        // DocumentPicker.types.allFiles
        // DocumentPicker.types.images
        // DocumentPicker.types.plainText
        // DocumentPicker.types.audio
        // DocumentPicker.types.pdf
      });
      //Printing the log realted to the file
      console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
      console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
      console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
      console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
      console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
      //Setting the state to show single file attributes
      this.setState({ singleFile: res });
    } catch (err) {
      //Handling any exception (If any)
      if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
        //If user canceled the document selection
        alert('Canceled from single doc picker');
      } else {
        //For Unknown Error
        alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
        throw err;
      }
    }
  }

  async selectMultipleFile() {
    //Opening Document Picker for selection of multiple file
    try {
      const results = await DocumentPicker.pickMultiple({
        type: [DocumentPicker.types.images],
        //There can me more options as well find above
      });
      for (const res of results) {
        //Printing the log realted to the file
        console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
        console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
        console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
        console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
        console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
      }
      //Setting the state to show multiple file attributes
      this.setState({ multipleFile: results });
    } catch (err) {
      //Handling any exception (If any)
      if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
        //If user canceled the document selection
        alert('Canceled from multiple doc picker');
      } else {
        //For Unknown Error
        alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
        throw err;
      }
    }
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <View style={styles.containerStyle}>
        {/*To show single file attribute*/}
        <TouchableOpacity
          activeOpacity={0.5}
          style={styles.buttonStyle}
          onPress={this.selectOneFile.bind(this)}>
          {/*Single file selection button*/}
          <Text style={{ marginRight: 10, fontSize: 19 }}>
            Click here to pick one file
          </Text>
          <Image
            source={{
              uri: 'https://img.icons8.com/offices/40/000000/attach.png',
            }}
            style={styles.imageIconStyle}
          />
        </TouchableOpacity>
        {/*Showing the data of selected Single file*/}
        <Text style={styles.textStyle}>
          File Name:{' '}
          {this.state.singleFile.name ? this.state.singleFile.name : ''}
          {'\n'}
          Type: {this.state.singleFile.type ? this.state.singleFile.type : ''}
          {'\n'}
          File Size:{' '}
          {this.state.singleFile.size ? this.state.singleFile.size : ''}
          {'\n'}
          URI: {this.state.singleFile.uri ? this.state.singleFile.uri : ''}
          {'\n'}
        </Text>
        <View style={{ backgroundColor: 'grey', height: 2, margin: 10 }} />
        {/*To multiple single file attribute*/}
        <TouchableOpacity
          activeOpacity={0.5}
          style={styles.buttonStyle}
          onPress={this.selectMultipleFile.bind(this)}>
          {/*Multiple files selection button*/}
          <Text style={{ marginRight: 10, fontSize: 19 }}>
            Click here to pick multiple files
          </Text>
          <Image
            source={{
              uri: 'https://img.icons8.com/offices/40/000000/attach.png',
            }}
            style={styles.imageIconStyle}
          />
        </TouchableOpacity>
        <ScrollView>
          {/*Showing the data of selected Multiple files*/}
          {this.state.multipleFile.map((item, key) => (
            <View key={key}>
              <Text style={styles.textStyle}>
                File Name: {item.name ? item.name : ''}
                {'\n'}
                Type: {item.type ? item.type : ''}
                {'\n'}
                File Size: {item.size ? item.size : ''}
                {'\n'}
                URI: {item.uri ? item.uri : ''}
                {'\n'}
              </Text>
            </View>
          ))}
        </ScrollView>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  containerStyle: {
    flex: 1,
    backgroundColor: '#fff',
    padding: 16,
  },
  textStyle: {
    backgroundColor: '#fff',
    fontSize: 15,
    marginTop: 16,
    color: 'black',
  },
  buttonStyle: {
    alignItems: 'center',
    flexDirection: 'row',
    backgroundColor: '#DDDDDD',
    padding: 5,
  },
  imageIconStyle: {
    height: 20,
    width: 20,
    resizeMode: 'stretch',
  },
});

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/*This is an example of File Picker in React Native*/

import React from 'react';

import {

StyleSheet,

Text,

View,

Button,

TouchableOpacity,

ScrollView,

Image,

} from 'react-native';

import DocumentPicker from 'react-native-document-picker';

export default class App extends React.Component {

constructor(props) {

super(props);

//Initialization of the state to store the selected file related attribute

this.state = {

singleFile: '',

multipleFile: [],

};

}

async selectOneFile() {

//Opening Document Picker for selection of one file

try {

const res = await DocumentPicker.pick({

type: [DocumentPicker.types.allFiles],

//There can me more options as well

// DocumentPicker.types.allFiles

// DocumentPicker.types.images

// DocumentPicker.types.plainText

// DocumentPicker.types.audio

// DocumentPicker.types.pdf

});

//Printing the log realted to the file

console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));

console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);

console.log('Type : ' + res.type);

console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);

console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);

//Setting the state to show single file attributes

this.setState({ singleFile: res });

} catch (err) {

//Handling any exception (If any)

if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {

//If user canceled the document selection

alert('Canceled from single doc picker');

} else {

//For Unknown Error

alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));

throw err;

}

async selectMultipleFile() {

//Opening Document Picker for selection of multiple file

try {

const results = await DocumentPicker.pickMultiple({

type: [DocumentPicker.types.images],

//There can me more options as well find above

});

for (const res of results) {

//Printing the log realted to the file

console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));

console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);

console.log('Type : ' + res.type);

console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);

console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);

}

//Setting the state to show multiple file attributes

this.setState({ multipleFile: results });

} catch (err) {

//Handling any exception (If any)

if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {

//If user canceled the document selection

alert('Canceled from multiple doc picker');

} else {

//For Unknown Error

alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));

throw err;

}

render() {

return (

{/*To show single file attribute*/}

<TouchableOpacity

activeOpacity={0.5}

style={styles.buttonStyle}

onPress={this.selectOneFile.bind(this)}>

{/*Single file selection button*/}

Click here to pick one file

</Text>

<Image

source={{

uri: 'https://img.icons8.com/offices/40/000000/attach.png',

}}

style={styles.imageIconStyle}

</TouchableOpacity>

{/*Showing the data of selected Single file*/}

File Name:{' '}

{this.state.singleFile.name ? this.state.singleFile.name : ''}

{'\n'}

Type: {this.state.singleFile.type ? this.state.singleFile.type : ''}

{'\n'}

File Size:{' '}

{this.state.singleFile.size ? this.state.singleFile.size : ''}

{'\n'}

URI: {this.state.singleFile.uri ? this.state.singleFile.uri : ''}

{'\n'}

</Text>

{/*To multiple single file attribute*/}

<TouchableOpacity

activeOpacity={0.5}

style={styles.buttonStyle}

onPress={this.selectMultipleFile.bind(this)}>

{/*Multiple files selection button*/}

Click here to pick multiple files

</Text>

<Image

source={{

uri: 'https://img.icons8.com/offices/40/000000/attach.png',

}}

style={styles.imageIconStyle}

</TouchableOpacity>

{/*Showing the data of selected Multiple files*/}

{this.state.multipleFile.map((item, key) => (

File Name: {item.name ? item.name : ''}

{'\n'}

Type: {item.type ? item.type : ''}

{'\n'}

File Size: {item.size ? item.size : ''}

{'\n'}

URI: {item.uri ? item.uri : ''}

{'\n'}

</Text>

</View>

))}

</ScrollView>

</View>

);

}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({

containerStyle: {

flex: 1,

backgroundColor: '#fff',

padding: 16,

textStyle: {

backgroundColor: '#fff',

fontSize: 15,

marginTop: 16,

color: 'black',

buttonStyle: {

alignItems: 'center',

flexDirection: 'row',

backgroundColor: '#DDDDDD',

padding: 5,

imageIconStyle: {

height: 20,

width: 20,

resizeMode: 'stretch',

});

To Run the React Native App

Open the terminal again and jump into your project using.

cd ProjectName

To run the project on an Android Virtual Device or on real debugging device

react-native run-android

or on the iOS Simulator by running

react-native run-ios (macOS only).

Android

IOS

As this file picker provides the iCloud pick also so before running the application for IOS. Open the project in Xcode and click on the project in the left sidebar and you will see many options in the workspace.

1. In the general tab, you have to choose your signing profile from XCode.

2. In the Capabilities tab, You can see the iCloud option which you have to turn on.

3. It will ask you to choose the development team. Select your development team.

4. Now we are ready go with iOS also

If you are working on the IOS simulator then you will get this error because simulator does not support iCloud and file picking options

This is how you can Pick a file from the React Native Application. If you have any doubt or you want to share something about the topic you can comment below or contact us here. There will be more posts coming soon. Stay tuned!

Hope you liked it. 🙂

16 thoughts on “Example of File Picker in React Native”

Alish Giri
February 15, 2019 at 11:11 am | Reply
How to prevent the package from accessing icloud as I do not have Apple Developer Account and would just want to access from the local storage.
- Snehal Agrawal
  February 15, 2019 at 8:39 pm | Reply
  I have tried but you have to have an ICloud Account for that.
Avinash
February 25, 2019 at 12:02 pm | Reply
* What went wrong:
A problem occurred evaluating project ‘:react-native-document-picker’.
> Could not find method google() for arguments [] on repository container.
Oxrevol
July 20, 2019 at 10:06 am | Reply
Awesome, please note that the picker V3 is now released this doc is for version2 ( https://github.com/Elyx0/react-native-document-picker/tree/v2 – npm install react-native-document-picker@2.3.0
- Snehal Agrawal
  July 20, 2019 at 10:31 am | Reply
  Thank you very much for the valuable information. 🙂
Huda
August 14, 2019 at 3:11 pm | Reply
How do i get file contents from this?so that i can move the contents to another file and move to folder.
how do i get file contents from document picker?
- Snehal Agrawal
  August 17, 2019 at 11:48 am | Reply
  For that you need to read the document and the process depends upon the type of document you want to read.
Nana Kofi
August 19, 2019 at 10:15 pm | Reply
I just tried using version 3.2.4
Tapping add attachment gives me an error screen
“undefined is not an object (eveluating ‘_reactNativeDocumentPicker.DocumentPicker.show’)”
I followed all steps as stated here on this page. Please advice. Thanks in advance.
- Snehal Agrawal
  August 20, 2019 at 12:54 am | Reply
  Hey Nana, After the update of React native 0.60 We have a new update in the library too. Can you please wait till the end of the day as I have updated the post and will update it till the end of the day.
Nana Kofi
August 20, 2019 at 3:03 pm | Reply
Would really appreciate that. Thanks again
- Snehal Agrawal
  August 21, 2019 at 12:30 am | Reply
  I have updated the example please have a look and thanks for the patience. 🙂
Jhonatan
September 6, 2019 at 8:45 pm | Reply
Hi I’m from Peru. I tried several times with this library react-native-document-picker for uploading files but I still get the same error as Nana :
“Unhandled Promise Rejection. DocumentPicker.isCancel is not a function.”
Im working with react native version 0.60. Please any help.
- Snehal Agrawal
  September 7, 2019 at 12:05 am | Reply
  Please check your inbox.
Toan Nguyen
September 10, 2019 at 1:13 pm | Reply
Sometime, when already picked a file, return dot not a Uri, otherwise it is local path file. Then, I using react-native-firebase upload a file from Uri via method putFile happend error.
How do return 100% Uri?
maddali mallap
October 28, 2019 at 11:17 pm | Reply
hi dude , successfully i am picking up the file paths from the above example .
i am getting only the path location. But i need the content(File data) of the path in base 64.
How can i read this file data ?
- Snehal Agrawal
  October 31, 2019 at 1:22 am | Reply
  You have to use react-native-fetch-blob (https://github.com/wkh237/react-native-fetch-blob) or you can follow the following thread
  https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34908009/react-native-convert-image-url-to-base64-string

Example of File Picker in React Native

How to Use

To Pick Single document or File

To Pick Multiple documents or Files

To Make a React Native App

Installation of Dependency

Linking of Dependency

CocoaPods Installation

Permission to access External Storage for Android

Code for the File Picker in React Native

App.js

To Run the React Native App

Android

IOS

16 thoughts on “Example of File Picker in React Native”

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