<p>To download a file in PHP, you need to force the browser to download file except display. In this article, we are going to show how to download a file from directory or server in PHP. Using&nbsp;<code>header()</code>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<code>readfile()</code>&nbsp;function, you can easily download a file in PHP. Here we&rsquo;ll provide the example PHP code to force download file in PHP. Also, this simple PHP script helps to implement a download link which downloads a file from the directory. The following example script can be used for download any types of file like text, image, document, pdf, zip, etc.</p>
<h2>Download a File in PHP</h2>
<pre>$fileName = basename('tcmhack.txt');
$filePath&nbsp;=&nbsp;'files/'.$fileName;
if(!empty($fileName)&nbsp;&amp;&amp;&nbsp;file_exists($filePath)){
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;//&nbsp;Define&nbsp;headers
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Cache-Control:&nbsp;public");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Description:&nbsp;File&nbsp;Transfer");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Disposition:&nbsp;attachment;&nbsp;filename=$fileName");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Type:&nbsp;application/zip");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Transfer-Encoding:&nbsp;binary");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;//&nbsp;Read&nbsp;the&nbsp;file
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;readfile($filePath);
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;exit;
}else{
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;echo&nbsp;'The&nbsp;file&nbsp;does&nbsp;not&nbsp;exist.';
}</pre>
<h2>Download a File Through Anchor Link</h2>
<p>Sometimes you need to provide a link to the user for download file from the server. Use the below sample code to display an HTML link to download a file from the directory using PHP. <strong>HTML Code:</strong></p>
<pre>&lt;a href="download.php?file=tcmhack.png"&gt;Dowload File&lt;/a&gt;
</pre>
<p><strong>PHP Code (download.php):</strong></p>
<pre>&lt;?php
if(!empty($_GET['file'])){
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$fileName&nbsp;=&nbsp;basename($_GET['file']);
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$filePath&nbsp;=&nbsp;'files/'.$fileName;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;if(!empty($fileName)&nbsp;&amp;&amp;&nbsp;file_exists($filePath)){
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;//&nbsp;Define&nbsp;headers
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Cache-Control:&nbsp;public");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Description:&nbsp;File&nbsp;Transfer");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Disposition:&nbsp;attachment;&nbsp;filename=$fileName");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Type:&nbsp;application/zip");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;header("Content-Transfer-Encoding:&nbsp;binary");
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;//&nbsp;Read&nbsp;the&nbsp;file
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;readfile($filePath);
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;exit;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}else{
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;echo&nbsp;'The&nbsp;file&nbsp;does&nbsp;not&nbsp;exist.';
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}
}</pre>

To download a file in PHP, you need to force the browser to download file except display. In this article, we are going to show how to download a...

How to Force Download File in PHP - TCMHACK

How to Force Download File in PHP

The file_exists() function in PHP, is used to check if a file or directory exists on the server. But the file_exists() function will not usable if you want to check the file existence on the remote server. The fopen() function is the easiest solution to check if a file URL exists on a remote server using PHP.

The following code snippet show you how to&nbsp;<b>check if remote file exists</b>&nbsp;using fopen() function in PHP.
<pre>//&nbsp;Remote&nbsp;file&nbsp;url
$remoteFile&nbsp;=&nbsp;'https://www.example.com/files/project.zip';

//&nbsp;Open&nbsp;file
$handle&nbsp;=&nbsp;@fopen($remoteFile,&nbsp;'r');

//&nbsp;Check&nbsp;if&nbsp;file&nbsp;exists
if(!$handle){
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;echo&nbsp;'File&nbsp;not&nbsp;found';
}else{
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;echo&nbsp;'File&nbsp;exists';
}</pre>
You can also use cURL to check if a URL exists on the remote server. The following code snippet show you how to&nbsp;<b>check if remote file URL exists</b>&nbsp;using cURL in PHP.
<pre>//&nbsp;Remote&nbsp;file&nbsp;url
$remoteFile&nbsp;=&nbsp;'https://www.example.com/files/project.zip';

//&nbsp;Initialize&nbsp;cURL
$ch&nbsp;=&nbsp;curl_init($remoteFile);
curl_setopt($ch,&nbsp;CURLOPT_NOBODY,&nbsp;true);
curl_exec($ch);
$responseCode&nbsp;=&nbsp;curl_getinfo($ch,&nbsp;CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($ch);

//&nbsp;Check&nbsp;the&nbsp;response&nbsp;code
if($responseCode&nbsp;==&nbsp;200){
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;echo&nbsp;'File&nbsp;exists';
}else{
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;echo&nbsp;'File&nbsp;not&nbsp;found';
}</pre>

The file_exists() function in PHP, is used to check if a file or directory exists on the server. But the file_exists() function will not usable i...

How to Force Download File in PHP

How to Check if Remote File Exists using PHP