Master PHP ftell(): Track File Pointer Position with Simple Code

Function Overview

ftell(resource $handle): int returns the current byte offset of the file pointer associated with $handle, or false on error.

Parameters

$handle – file resource obtained from fopen() or similar functions.

Return Value

Integer byte offset on success, false on failure.

Usage Example

Open a file, read the first 10 bytes, output the content, obtain the pointer position with ftell(), then close the file.

<?php
$filename = "example.txt";
$handle = fopen($filename, "r");
if ($handle) {
    $content = fread($handle, 10);
    echo "File content: " . $content . PHP_EOL;
    $position = ftell($handle);
    echo "File pointer position: " . $position . PHP_EOL;
    fclose($handle);
} else {
    echo "Unable to open file!" . PHP_EOL;
}
?>

If example.txt contains Hello, World! , the script prints:

File content: Hello, Wor
File pointer position: 10

Important Note

ftell()

reports the byte offset, not the character count. When a file is opened in text mode, multibyte characters (e.g., Chinese characters) occupy multiple bytes, so the offset reflects total bytes read.

Summary

ftell()

provides the exact byte position of the file pointer, enabling precise file‑processing tasks such as seeking, chunked reads, or resuming operations.