How to style “input file” with CSS3 / Javascript?

Question

This question already has an answer here:

• Styling an input type=“file” button 39 answers

I would like to style <input type="file" /> using CSS3.

Alternatively, I would like user to press on a div (that I will style) and this will open the Browse window.

Is that possible to do that using HTML, CSS3, and Javascript / jQuery only ?

Answer 1

The fake div is not needed! No Js no extra html. Using only css is possible.

The best way is using the pseudo element :after or :before as an element overt the de input. Then style that pseudo element as you wish. I recomend you to do as a general style for all input files as follows:

input[type="file"]:before {
  content: 'Browse';
  background: #FFF;
  width: 100%;
  height: 35px;
  display: block;
  text-align: left;
  position: relative;
  margin: 0;
  margin: 0 5px;
  left: -6px;
  border: 1px solid #E0E0E0;
  top: -1px;
  line-height: 35px;
  color: #B6B6B6;
  padding-left: 5px;
  display: block;
}

--> DEMO

Answer 2

When you retreive the value of an input field, browser will return a fake path (literally C:\fakepath[filename] in Chrome). So I would add the following to the Javascript solutions:

val=$('#file').val(); //File field value

val=val.replace('/','\\'); //Haven't tested it on Unix, but convert / to \ just in case
val=val.substring(val.lastIndexOf('\\')+1);

$('#textbox').val(val);

Ofc, it could be done in a single line.

Answer 3

Here is how to do it using HTML, CSS and Javascript (without any frameworks):

The idea is to have the <input type='file'> button hidden and use a dummy <div> that you style as a file upload button. On click of this <div>, we call the hidden <input type='file'>.

Demo:

// comments inline

document.getElementById("customButton").addEventListener("click", function(){
  document.getElementById("fileUpload").click();  // trigger the click of actual file upload button
});

document.getElementById("fileUpload").addEventListener("change", function(){
  var fullPath = document.getElementById('fileUpload').value;
  var fileName = fullPath.split(/(\\|\/)/g).pop();  // fetch the file name
  document.getElementById("fileName").innerHTML = fileName;  // display the file name
}, false);

body{
  font-family: Arial;
}

#fileUpload{
  display: none; /* do not display the actual file upload button */
}

#customButton{  /* style the dummy upload button */
  background: yellow;
  border: 1px solid red;
  border-radius: 5px;
  padding: 5px;
  display: inline-block;
  cursor: pointer;
  color: red;
}

<input type="file" id="fileUpload"> <!-- actual file upload button -->
<div id="customButton">Browse</div>  <!-- dummy file upload button which can be used for styling ;) -->
<span id="fileName"></span> <!-- the file name of the selected file will be shown here -->

Answer 4

Here is a solution with a text field where the user types in the (relative) pathname of the file copy on the server (if authorized) and a submit button to browse the local system for a file and send the form:

<form enctype="multipart/form-data" action="" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="MAX_FILE_SIZE" value="1000000" />
<p><input type="file" name="upload_file" id="upload_file" size="40"/></p>
<p><input type="text" id="upload_filename" name="upload_filename" size="30" maxlength="100" value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($filename, ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8'); ?>"/>
<input type="submit" class="submit submit_upload" id="upload_upload" name="upload_upload" value="Upload"/></p>
</form>

The scripting part hides the file input, clicks it if the user clicks on the submit button, submits the form if the user has picked up a file. If the user tries to upload a file without entering a filename, the focus is first moved to the text field for the filename.

<script type="text/javascript">
var file=$('#upload_file');
var filename=$('#upload_filename');
var upload=$('#upload_upload');

file.hide().change(function() {if (file.val()) {upload.unbind('click').click();}});

upload.click(function(event) {event.preventDefault();if (!filename.val()) {filename.focus();} else {file.click();}});
</script>

Simply style the submit button for a perfect result:

.submit {padding:0;margin:0;border:none;vertical-align:middle;text-indent:-1000em;cursor:pointer;}
.submit_upload {width:100px;height:30px;background:transparent url(../images/theme/upload.png) no-repeat;}

Answer 5

I made a custom style for this as well. Check it out

JS Fiddle Demo - Custom Input type="file"

HTML

<input type="file" id="test">
<div class="button-group"> 
<a href="#" id="browse" class="button primary">Browse</a>
<a href="#" id="save" class="button">Save</a>
<a href="#" id="clear" class="button danger">Clear</a>
</div>
<input type="text" id="testfile"></input>

CSS

body {
padding:100px;
}
input[type="file"] {
position:absolute;
display:none;
}
#testfile {
height: 26px;
text-decoration: none;
background-color: #eee;
border:1px solid #ccc;
border-radius:3px;
float:left;
margin-right:5px;
overflow:hidden;
text-overflow:ellipsis;
color:#aaa;
text-indent:5px;
}
#actionbtnBrowse, #actionbtnSave {
margin:0 !important;
width:60px;
}

JQuery

$("#browse").click(function () {
$("#test").click();
})

$("#save").click(function () {
alert('Run a save function');
})

$("#clear").click(function () {
$('#testfile').val('');
})

$('#test').change(function () {
$('#testfile').val($(this).val());
})

Also add to external resources tab:

https://github.com/necolas/css3-github-buttons/blob/master/gh-buttons.css

Answer 6

Here's an example that I'm using that utilizes jQuery, I've tested against Firefox 11, and Chrome 18, as well as IE9. So its pretty compatible with browsers in my book, though i only work with those three.

HTML

Here's a basic "Customizable" HTML structure.

<span>
    File to Upload<br />
    <label class="smallInput" style="float:left;">
        <input type="file" name="file" class="smallInput" />
    </label>
    <input type="button" class="upload" value="Upload" style="float:left;margin-top:6px;margin-left:10px;" />
</span>

CSS

Here's a sample of my CSS

label.smallInput {
    background:url(images/bg_s_input.gif) no-repeat;
    width:168px;
}

JavaScript

This is the heavy lifter.

/* File upload magic form?? */
$("input.smallInput[type=file]").each(function(i){
    var id      = "__d_file_upload_"+i;
    var d_wrap  = $('<div/>').attr('id',id).css({'position':'relative','cursor':'text'});

    $(this).wrap(d_wrap).bind('change blur focus keyup click',function(){
        $("#"+id+" input[type=text]").val($(this).val());
    }).css({'opacity':0,'zIndex':9999,'position':'absolute'}).removeClass('smallInput');

    obj = $(this);

    $("#"+id).append($("<input/>").addClass('smallInput').attr('type','text').css({'zIndex':9998,'position':'absolute'}).bind('click',function(e){obj.trigger('click');$(this).blur();}));
    obj.closest('span').children('input.upload[type=button]').bind('click',function(e){
        obj.trigger('click');
        $(this).blur();
    });
});
/* ************************ */

Explanation

The HTML is pretty straight forward, just a simple element, i include the button so it can be named independently from the rest, sure this could be included in the JavaScript, but simply put, I'm a bit on the lazy side. The code searches for all inputs with a class of smallInput that have the type of file this allows you to define default HTML and fallback form structure in case a browser decides to be a pain.

This method only uses JavaScript to ensure delivery, it does not alter any browser behaviors in regards to the file input.

You can modify the HTML and JavaScript to make it very robust, this code suffices my current project so i doubt I'll be making any changes to it.

Caveats

• Different browsers treat the value of the file input differently, which in chrome results in c:\fakeroot\ on windows machines.
• Uses anonymous functions, (for lack of a better word) which means if you have too many file inputs you can cause the browser to behave slowly on processing.