How to move a file with JavaScript

Question

I want to move a txt file from drive c to drive d and I found this code by searching but it does not work properly. please guide me. Thanks

<html>
  <body>
    <script language="JScript">
      function move() {
        var object = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
        var file = object.GetFile("C:\\1.txt");
        file.Move("d:\\");
        console.log("File is moved successfully");
      }
    </script>
      <button onClick="move()">Move File txt</button>
  </body>
</html>

Are you testing this in a browser that _supports_ ActiveX in the first place ...? (Which would only be old Internet Explorers, I think, they did not even implement those in Edge to begin with. And all other browsers have never supported this.) — CBroe, May 04 '22 at 12:26
And can be dangerous. JavaScript runs within a sandbox. JavaScript is probably not the right programminf language for what you want to achieve. — Thomas, May 04 '22 at 12:27
You cannot and should never interact with the file system with client side JavaScript. JS is sandboxed in the browser, use Node.js instead. — Asplund, May 04 '22 at 12:27
I know what's he's trying to do @Thomas , but what other language would you suggest if he's using HTML then? — Keith, May 04 '22 at 12:31
@Keith to be honest, I can't think of any within the browser. — Thomas, May 04 '22 at 12:32

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered May 04 '22 at 12:30

Browsers do not provide any features that let code provided by a webpage move files the users' hard disks.

The code you've found may have worked in old versions of Internet Explorer (I think the feature was removed in later versions) but only when the security settings were altered from the default to allow it.

You could probably use it in server-side Classic ASP (but then it would move files on the server rather than the client).

For a browser-style UI which can do this, look to tools like Electron which pair a custom browser with Node.js in a desktop application. You can then use the Node.js side of your custom application to move files.

Obviously this will require that the user download and install your application and use that instead of their web browser.

How to move a file with JavaScript

1 Answers1