- Add the
multiple attribute to your HTMLInputElement
- Add the
accept attribute to your HTMLInputElement
To filter your files selection to images only, use accept="image/*", or a comma separated MIME list: accept="image/png, image/jpeg"
- Use FileReader.readAsDataURL to get the Base64 string,
or URL.createObjectURL to get the file Blob object
Using FileReader.readAsDataURL
The asynchronous way to read the image data is by using FileReader API and its readAsDataURL method which returns a Base64 String:
const preview = (file) => {
const fr = new FileReader();
fr.onload = () => {
const img = document.createElement("img");
img.src = fr.result; // String Base64
img.alt = file.name;
document.querySelector('#preview').append(img);
};
fr.readAsDataURL(file);
};
document.querySelector("#files").addEventListener("change", (ev) => {
if (!ev.target.files) return; // Do nothing.
[...ev.target.files].forEach(preview);
});
#preview img { max-height: 100px; }
<input id="files" type="file" accept="image/*" multiple>
<div id="preview"></div>
Async strategy:
Due to the asynchronous nature of FileReader, you could implement an async/await strategy:
// DOM utility functions:
const el = (sel, par) => (par || document).querySelector(sel);
const elNew = (tag, props) => Object.assign(document.createElement(tag), props);
// Preview images before upload:
const elFiles = el("#files");
const elPreview = el("#preview");
const previewImage = (props) => elPreview.append(elNew("img", props));
const reader = (file, method = "readAsDataURL") => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
const fr = new FileReader();
fr.onload = () => resolve({ file, result: fr.result });
fr.onerror = (err) => reject(err);
fr[method](file);
});
const previewImages = async(files) => {
// Remove existing preview images
elPreview.innerHTML = "";
let filesData = [];
try {
// Read all files. Return Array of Promises
const readerPromises = files.map((file) => reader(file));
filesData = await Promise.all(readerPromises);
} catch (err) {
// Notify the user that something went wrong.
elPreview.textContent = "An error occurred while loading images. Try again.";
// In this specific case Promise.all() might be preferred over
// Promise.allSettled(), since it isn't trivial to modify a FileList
// to a subset of files of what the user initially selected.
// Therefore, let's just stash the entire operation.
console.error(err);
return; // Exit function here.
}
// All OK. Preview images:
filesData.forEach(data => {
previewImage({
src: data.result, // Base64 String
alt: data.file.name // File.name String
});
});
};
elFiles.addEventListener("change", (ev) => {
if (!ev.currentTarget.files) return; // Do nothing.
previewImages([...ev.currentTarget.files]);
});
#preview img { max-height: 100px; }
<input id="files" type="file" accept="image/*" multiple>
<div id="preview"></div>
Using URL.createObjectURL
The synchronous way to read the image is by using the URL API and its createObjectURL method which returns a Blob:
const preview = (file) => {
const img = document.createElement("img");
img.src = URL.createObjectURL(file); // Object Blob
img.alt = file.name;
document.querySelector('#preview').append(img);
};
document.querySelector("#files").addEventListener("change", (ev) => {
if (!ev.target.files) return; // Do nothing.
[...ev.target.files].forEach(preview);
});
#preview img { max-height: 120px; }
<input id="files" type="file" accept="image/*" multiple>
<div id="preview"></div>
Although looks much simpler, it has implications on the main thread due to its synchronicity, and requires you to manually use (when possible) URL.revokeObjectURL in order to free up memory:
// Remove unused images from #preview? Consider also using
URL.revokeObjectURL(someImg.src); // Free up memory space
jQuery example:
A jQuery implementation of the above FileReader.readAsDataURL() example:
const preview = (file) => {
const fr = new FileReader();
fr.onload = (ev) => {
$('#preview').append($("<img>", {src: fr.result, alt: file.name}));
};
fr.readAsDataURL(file);
};
$("#files").on("change", (ev) => {
if (!ev.target.files) return; // Do nothing.
[...ev.target.files].forEach(preview);
});
#preview img { max-height: 120px; }
<input id="files" type="file" accept="image/*" multiple>
<div id="preview"></div>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.6.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
Additional read:
Tips:
Besides using the HTMLInputElement attribute accept, if you want to make sure within JavaScript that a file is-of-type, you could:
if (!/\.(jpe?g|png|gif)$/i.test(file.name)) {
// Not a valid image
}
or like:
if (!/^image\//i.test(file.type)) {
// File is not of type Image
}
