How to use download() in Laravel

Downloading files from a website is a necessary feature almost all sites tend to have.

The download() method pushes files from your server to the browser for users to get on their devices.

Note: By default, your file should be placed in the storage/app directory.

Syntax

return Storage::download('file.jpg', $name, $headers);;

You would call the download() method on the Storage facade, which helps to interact with the application disk.

Parameters

The download() method receives three parameters, which are:

1. File path, for example: Storage/upload/file.jpg

2. File name

3. Array of headers

The first parameter is required, while the other two are optional.

Example

Let’s assume you have a tutorial.pdf file in your default disk directory (storage/app) and want to download it.

For test purposes, we will be doing this from the web.php, which is in our Route directory, like so:

Route::get('/documemt', function () {
      return Storage::download('tutorial.pdf');
  });

In the above code, when we visit the /document URL on our application, it returns the tutorial.pdf file for download.

Output

The browser receives the tutorial.pdf file for download: