FileSystemDirectoryHandle: getFileHandle() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since March 2023.

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

The getFileHandle() method of the FileSystemDirectoryHandle interface returns a FileSystemFileHandle for a file with the specified name, within the directory the method is called.

Syntax

js
getFileHandle(name)
getFileHandle(name, options)

Parameters

name

A string representing the FileSystemHandle.name of the file you wish to retrieve.

options Optional

An object with the following properties:

create Optional

A Boolean. Default false. When set to true if the file is not found, one with the specified name will be created and returned.

Return value

A Promise which resolves with a FileSystemFileHandle.

Exceptions

NotAllowedError DOMException

Thrown if the PermissionStatus.state for the handle is not 'granted' in readwrite mode if the create option is set to true or in read mode if the create option is set to false.

TypeError

Thrown if the name specified is not a valid string or contains characters that would interfere with the native file system.

TypeMismatchError DOMException

Thrown if the named entry is a directory and not a file.

NotFoundError DOMException

Thrown if the current entry is not found or if the file doesn't exist and the create option is set to false.

Examples

The following example returns a file handle with the specified name, if the file does not exist it is created.

js
const fileName = "fileToGetName";

// assuming we have a directory handle: 'currentDirHandle'
const fileHandle = await currentDirHandle.getFileHandle(fileName, {
  create: true,
});