Master Laravel’s File Helper: Essential Methods Cheat Sheet

Laravel’s File facade offers a straightforward API for handling files and directories within a PHP application. The following cheat sheet lists the most frequently used methods, each accompanied by a brief description and a ready‑to‑copy code example.

Existence and Basic Retrieval

// Check if a file or directory exists File::exists($path); // Read the contents of a file (optional lock) File::get($path, $lock = false); // Read a file with shared lock File::sharedGet($path); // Retrieve file contents and throw FileNotFoundException if missing File::getRequire($path); // Include a file only once

File::requireOnce($file);

Path and Hash Utilities

// Generate an MD5 hash of a file path

File::hash($path);

Writing and Modifying Files

// Write contents to a file (optional lock) File::put($path, $contents, $lock = false); // Overwrite an existing file File::replace($path, $content); // Prepend data to the beginning of a file File::prepend($path, $data); // Append data to the end of a file

File::append($path, $data);

Permission and Deletion

// Change file or directory permissions File::chmod($path, $mode = null); // Delete one or more files

File::delete($paths);

Moving and Copying

// Move a file to a new location File::move($path, $target); // Copy a file to a new location File::copy($path, $target); // Create a hard link

File::link($target, $link);

Path Information

// Get filename without extension File::name($path); // Get filename with extension File::basename($path); // Get directory name of a path File::dirname($path); // Get file extension File::extension($path); // Get file type (e.g., file, dir, link) File::type($path); // Get MIME type of a file File::mimeType($path); // Get file size in bytes File::size($path); // Get last modification timestamp

File::lastModified($path);

Type Checks

// Determine if a path is a directory File::isDirectory($directory); // Determine if a path is readable File::isReadable($path); // Determine if a path is writable File::isWritable($path); // Determine if a path is a regular file

File::isFile($file);

Glob and Directory Listing

// Find paths matching a pattern File::glob($pattern, $flags = 0); // Get all files in a directory (optionally include hidden) File::files($directory, $hidden = false); // Recursively get all files in a directory File::allFiles($directory, $hidden = false); // Get sub‑directories within a directory

File::directories($directory);

Directory Management

// Create a directory with optional mode, recursion, and force

File::makeDirectory($path, $mode = 0755, $recursive = false, $force = false);

// Move a directory File::moveDirectory($from, $to, $overwrite = false); // Copy a directory to another location

File::copyDirectory($directory, $destination, $options = null);

// Delete a directory (optionally preserve files) File::deleteDirectory($directory, $preserve = false); // Recursively delete directories File::deleteDirectories($directory); // Empty a directory of all files and sub‑folders

File::cleanDirectory($directory);