Convert file: Uri to File in Android

Question

What's the easiest way to convert from a file: android.net.Uri to a File in Android?

Tried the following but it doesn't work:

 final File file = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory(), "read.me");
 Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(file);
 File auxFile = new File(uri.toString());
 assertEquals(file.getAbsolutePath(), auxFile.getAbsolutePath());

Solution 1

What you want is...

new File(uri.getPath());

... and not...

new File(uri.toString());

Notes

1. For an android.net.Uri object which is named uri and created exactly as in the question, uri.toString() returns a String in the format "file:///mnt/sdcard/myPicture.jpg", whereas uri.getPath() returns a String in the format "/mnt/sdcard/myPicture.jpg".
2. I understand that there are nuances to file storage in Android. My intention in this answer is to answer exactly what the questioner asked and not to get into the nuances.

Solution 2

use

InputStream inputStream = getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);    

directly and copy the file. Also see:

https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/document-provider.html

Solution 3

After searching for a long time this is what worked for me:

File file = new File(getPath(uri));


public String getPath(Uri uri) 
    {
        String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
        Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, null, null, null);
        if (cursor == null) return null;
        int column_index =             cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
        cursor.moveToFirst();
        String s=cursor.getString(column_index);
        cursor.close();
        return s;
    }

Solution 4

Android + Kotlin

1. Add dependency for Kotlin Android extensions:

   implementation 'androidx.core:core-ktx:{latestVersion}'

2. Get file from uri:

   uri.toFile()

Android + Java

Just move to top ;)

Solution 5

Best Solution

Create one simple FileUtil class & use to create, copy and rename the file

I used uri.toString() and uri.getPath() but not work for me. I finally found this solution.

import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.provider.OpenableColumns;
import android.util.Log;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.OutputStream;

public class FileUtil {
    private static final int EOF = -1;
    private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE = 1024 * 4;

    private FileUtil() {

    }

    public static File from(Context context, Uri uri) throws IOException {
        InputStream inputStream = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
        String fileName = getFileName(context, uri);
        String[] splitName = splitFileName(fileName);
        File tempFile = File.createTempFile(splitName[0], splitName[1]);
        tempFile = rename(tempFile, fileName);
        tempFile.deleteOnExit();
        FileOutputStream out = null;
        try {
            out = new FileOutputStream(tempFile);
        } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        if (inputStream != null) {
            copy(inputStream, out);
            inputStream.close();
        }

        if (out != null) {
            out.close();
        }
        return tempFile;
    }

    private static String[] splitFileName(String fileName) {
        String name = fileName;
        String extension = "";
        int i = fileName.lastIndexOf(".");
        if (i != -1) {
            name = fileName.substring(0, i);
            extension = fileName.substring(i);
        }

        return new String[]{name, extension};
    }

    private static String getFileName(Context context, Uri uri) {
        String result = null;
        if (uri.getScheme().equals("content")) {
            Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);
            try {
                if (cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()) {
                    result = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME));
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            } finally {
                if (cursor != null) {
                    cursor.close();
                }
            }
        }
        if (result == null) {
            result = uri.getPath();
            int cut = result.lastIndexOf(File.separator);
            if (cut != -1) {
                result = result.substring(cut + 1);
            }
        }
        return result;
    }

    private static File rename(File file, String newName) {
        File newFile = new File(file.getParent(), newName);
        if (!newFile.equals(file)) {
            if (newFile.exists() && newFile.delete()) {
                Log.d("FileUtil", "Delete old " + newName + " file");
            }
            if (file.renameTo(newFile)) {
                Log.d("FileUtil", "Rename file to " + newName);
            }
        }
        return newFile;
    }

    private static long copy(InputStream input, OutputStream output) throws IOException {
        long count = 0;
        int n;
        byte[] buffer = new byte[DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE];
        while (EOF != (n = input.read(buffer))) {
            output.write(buffer, 0, n);
            count += n;
        }
        return count;
    }
}

Use FileUtil class in your code

try {
         File file = FileUtil.from(MainActivity.this,fileUri);
         Log.d("file", "File...:::: uti - "+file .getPath()+" file -" + file + " : " + file .exists());

  } catch (IOException e) {
          e.printStackTrace();
  }

View more solutions

Comments

[Merlyn Morgan-Graham]

What is the difference between the two? What does toString do?

[Adil Hussain]

url.toString() return a String in the following format: "file:///mnt/sdcard/myPicture.jpg", whereas url.getPath() returns a String in the following format: "/mnt/sdcard/myPicture.jpg", i.e. without the scheme type pre-fixed.

[Nuthatch]

If the URI is a Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI (e.g. from Intent.ACTION_PICK for the Gallery) from you will need to look it up as in stackoverflow.com/q/6935497/42619

[Muz]

Ah, but the question is Uri, not URI. People have to watch out for that :)

[Matthew Flaschen]

@Muz, I believe the answer is correct. androidURI is an android.net.Uri. java.net.URI (which does exist on Android) is only used as part of the conversion process.

[Bart Burg]

Can't we just do: new File(uri.getPath());

[Zorb]

combinated with @Adil Hussain comment this two answers illuminated me about uri/strings/files thanks

[Jacek Kwiecień]

This just throws: IllegalArgumentException: Expected file scheme in URI: content://media/external/images/media/80038

[Matthew Flaschen]

@Xylian, yes, the question asks, "What's the easiest way to convert from a file: android.net.Uri to a File". You're not using a file: URL.

[Kyle Falconer]

managedQuery is now deprecated. use getContentResolver().query(...) instead, which works on API 11+. Add a conditional for devices older than API 11.

[Shajeel Afzal]

I am getting java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Expected file scheme in URI: content://com.shajeel.daily_monitoring.localstorage.document‌​s.localstorage.docum‌​ents/document/%2Fsto‌​rage%2Femulated%2F0%‌​2FBook1.xlsx exception after using this method.

[Matthew Flaschen]

@ShajeelAfzal the question says it's using the "file:" protocol. Like Xylian, you're using the content:// protocol.

[Chlebta]

@AdilHussain and then how to display this File from imageView ?

[erkinyldz]

This returns null to me for some reason. And my android uri is returns something like that:{content://com.android.providers.media.documents/docume‌​nt/image%3A2741} And‌​roid.Net.UriInvoker

[Virat Singh]

@Chlebta check out a library called Picasso for loading Files (even URLs) into ImageViews very easily.

[shoke]

Most of the time I'm getting open failed: ENOENT (No such file or directory) When I try to open the File given with this. Also, if the Uri is the Content Uri of an Image for example, it definitely doesn't work.

[HendraWD]

@AdilHussain in one of my test device, "Uri.getPath();" sometimes return "file:///pathToTheFile". I don't know why is that happens, so i need to substring that path to get the path without scheme type.

[Liran Cohen]

This is not a good solution since it wont work across all platforms. Some devices do not even populate this column, i recommend letting the content provider handle this as suggested by @CommonWare in previous answer

[Pratibha sarve]

open failed: ENOENT (No such file or directory) , how i will get storage path of anytype of File, like pdf

[Pratibha sarve]

this is only for image type file, what about others?

[Muhammad Natiq]

how to read actual file fro its uri in onActivityForResult? i am working on audio file want to pick audio File instead of just its url...the above solution is for only to create new file on that path of uri instead of getting that existing audio/any file

[Adil Hussain]

@natiqjavid you are asking a question that is outside the scope of this thread. Please start a different thread for your issue that stating what you've tried and what hasn't worked.

[Muhammad Natiq]

i solved my problem with this instead of getting that actual file i copied that input stream from uri and write my own same file by outputsteam stackoverflow.com/questions/28224612/…

[juanmirocks]

CommonsWare's is the right solution. A URI can mean mean things, not only a localsystem file. Either way, if you are forcing the URI to be a file, with at least java 8 you can do new File(uri)

[iroiroys]

This should be an answer ! :) I tested it on API 25.

[LarsH]

The OP did not ask about Uri's in general, but file: Uri's. As such, this answer is correct. @Nuthatch: I think you're talking about content: Uri's, not file: Uri's.

[Denys Lobur]

Make sure you're getting your uri from Intent.ACTION_PICK and not Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT, because the later has no MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA

[Kent Lauridsen]

@Adil Hussain It looks like you show url.toString (with a lower case L in url) instead of the uri.toString (with lower case I in uri). Just in case someone was trying urL with no luck

[me_]

@juanmirocks "CommonsWare's is the right solution." great! Where was that again?

[juanmirocks]

@me_ don't know now, sorry, he might have changed his username :/

[Pankaj Talaviya]

crash in java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: column ''_data'' does not exist at android.database.AbstractCursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(FileUt‌​ils.java)

[Vahid Akbari]

this is worked but when i select image from gallery it throws error in line of: InputStream inputStream = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);

[vishwajit76]

It worked very well but it throws FileNotFoundException on some android devices.

[mayank1513]

When I create file from the uri returned by content provider - it says file does not exist

[ansh sachdeva]

Year 2019, androidOne device, SDK 28(android pie) : both uri.getPath() and uri.toString() points to /mnt/sdcard/myPicture.jpg

[CommonsWare]

Note that this technique is banned on Android Q. You can no longer access the DATA column (and that was an unreliable approach in the first place).

[CommonsWare]

Note that this technique is banned on Android Q. You can no longer access the DATA column (and that was an unreliable approach in the first place).

[CommonsWare]

Note that this technique is banned on Android Q. You can no longer access the DATA column (and that was an unreliable approach in the first place).

[Mike Makarov]

This should be upvoted much much more. ContentResolver is what it seems you'll look at by default to resolve the path from Android.Net.Uri.

[vishwajit76]

Use this code for pick photo from camera stackoverflow.com/a/51095098/7008132

[DragonFire]

You my friend are a life saver... this worked perfectly for me

[Xenolion]

I want to add another upVote, but it turns out I can do only once!

[M. Usman Khan]

I tried this: androidx.core:core-ktx:1.5.0-alpha01 . Dont see this function "toFile"

[M. Usman Khan]

We selected a file from a chooser and then we'll first have to copy the file? :/

[Hemant Kaushik]

@M.UsmanKhan as per the documentation version 1.5.0-alpha01 can be used with minimum Android 11 Beta 01, so you can try 1.4.0-alpha01 or stable release 1.3.0. More info: developer.android.com/jetpack/androidx/releases/…

[Hemant Kaushik]

@M.UsmanKhan it exists in version 1.3.0, developer.android.com/kotlin/ktx/…

[M. Usman Khan]

I had 1.3.0 previously and it was not there :s

[M. Usman Khan]

I moved the ktx to my library build file and then i see it. Thanks !

[Ram]

Not working in Android 10 i got file not found exception?

[Raii]

MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA deprecated for SDK >= 29

[Kishan Solanki]

Error: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Uri lacks 'file' scheme: content://media/external/images/media/54545

[DeveloperApps]

Works great in 2021

[badadin]

uri.toString() gives me "content://com.google.android.apps.nbu.files.provider/1/file‌​%3A%2F%2F%2Fstorage%‌​2Femulated%2F0%2FDow‌​nload%2Fbackup.file"‌​, uri.getPath() gives me "/1/file:///storage/emulated/0/Download/backup.file" and new File(uri.getPath()) gives me "/1/file:/storage/emulated/0/Download/backup.file". So answer is not fully correct

[chezi shem tov]

this is a better answer stackoverflow.com/a/50522739/1023441

[Sever]

Bad answer, especially for images it return "Uri lacks 'file' scheme: content://"

[VaiTon]

@M.UsmanKhan it depends. If you want to use the file later on copy it. Otherwise just use it as an input stream. You should not rely on other apps keeping the file for you.

[M. Usman Khan]

@VaiTon86 . We want a File object from URI, without copying the file.

[Astha Garg]

This does not work in android 10

[MG Developer]

Agreed this should be the top answer. File to URI will not work because permissions, especially in Android 11 and above. Must use contentResolver. developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/…

[MG Developer]

This will not work Android API 11 and above on external storage unless you have manage external storage permission, which is very sensitive and most likely will not be granted. See the answer from Juan Camilo Rodriguez Durán

[Syl OR]

What do you mean by "Just move to top" for Android + Java? Thanks

[Nims]

Agreed, this is the real answer write here!

[Hemant Kaushik]

Answer already given by Adil for Java: stackoverflow.com/a/8370299/7784230

[Franz Andel]

have tested and works on API 31

[Vitaly]

Not working solution. I get following error message /document/msf:2391: open failed: ENOENT (No such file or directory)

[Julius Naeumann]

This isn't working for me with URIs returned by the file picker: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: URI is not absolute