How to Create a File Upload Form in WordPress? [Step by Step Guide]

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Looking for a way to add and create a free file upload form in WordPress without coding?

The File Upload feature is one of the important features whether you own – 

  1. A blog website where you accept guest post submissions
  2. An eCommerce website where you allow people to register, 
  3. A job board where you allow candidates to upload resume files in PDF format,
  4. An event website where you collect content for events or giveaways,
  5. A business website where you collect information from clients including PDF files, questionnaires, images, etc. 
  6. Or any other website niche.

In short, file upload forms allow you to easily collect files at a single place rather than asking your website audience to send them via emails. 

By default, WordPress doesn’t offer frontend file upload functionality. 

That’s where WordPress contact form builder with file upload plugins came into the picture as they allow you to easily create contact forms with a file upload option. 

But which WordPress form plugin with advanced file upload feature should you choose? 

I’ve compiled a list of best contact form WordPress plugins that come with file upload field option. 

Also, you will know how to create a file upload form in WordPress without writing code. 

So, let’s dive in.


How to Create a File Upload Form? [Without Coding]

Below are three WordPress plugins with which you can easily build the file upload form on your WordPress website.

1. WPForms

why-you-should-choose-wpforms-subscribers-wordpress-plugin

WPForms is the best drag & drop WordPress form builder plugin with file upload that allows you to create a custom file uploader form on your website.

With WPForms file upload feature, you can easily –

  1. Gather information from your website visitors,
  2. Receive documents from customer support forms, and much more.  

Some of the best features of WPForms are as follows – 

  1. It allows you to set the file size limit for uploads. 
  2. It let you choose the file extensions for the files that the user will upload.
  3. It allows multi-file upload.
  4. It allows you to choose whether you want to store the uploaded file on WordPress media library or not. 
  5. It offers pre-built file upload form template. 

Apart from the above features, WPForms let you add conditional logic on form fields.

Also, with WPForms Zapier addon, you can automatically save the file uploads to – 

  1. Dropbox,
  2. Google Drive, and
  3. Other cloud storage solutions.

So let’s check out the process to create a contact form with a file upload option using WPForms

1. Install & Activate WPForms WordPress Plugin

The first step includes the installation and activation of the WPForms plugin.

Recommended Read – If you are not sure about the installation process, you can check out the complete guide on WordPress plugin installation


2. Activate Form Templates Pack Addon [Optional]

Go to Dashboard > WPForms > Addons and activate Form Templates Pack Addon. 

We are activating this addon to get access to the pre-built File Upload Form Template. 


3. Add New Form

Next, you need to add a new contact form from Dashboard > WPForms > Add New

add-new-form-wpforms

4. Select File Upload Form Template

Though this step is completely optional, in case you don’t want to build a file upload form from scratch, then you can use a pre-built template. 

Scroll down to the Additional Templates in the “Add New Form” page. 

Search for File Upload Form in the search bar and click on the template. 

file-upload-form-template-wpforms

5. Edit The Form Fields

You can edit, add, or delete the form fields of the template according to your needs. 

file-upload-form-with-file-upload-field-template

Also, you can easily upload the file upload field in any of your existing forms by dragging the field from left panel to the right panel of the Form editor. 

add-file-upload-field-to-contact-form-in-wordpress

6. Configuring File Upload Field

You can easily change file upload settings including file size, file extension, and file storage preference by clicking on the field. 

configuring-file-upload-field-settings-wpforms

7. Other Configurations Related To File Upload

Apart from the above configuration, you can also configure form spam protection, form notifications, and form confirmations from the Form Settings. 

wpforms-additional-configuration-settings

8. Add File Upload Form To WordPress Post/Page

WPForms allow you to add contact forms right into your WordPress post and page. 

  1. For classic editor, you can add the form using the shortcode. 
  2. For Gutenberg block editor, you can add the form using the WPForms block. 

You can easily add the built form using the WPForms Gutenberg Block under the Widgets category. 

add-your-file-upload-form-to-wordpress-site-usign-wpforms-widget-block

9. View Uploaded Files

Also, you can view the uploaded files in Dashboard > WPForms > Entries

view-file-upload-entries-wpforms

2. Ninja Forms

Ninja Forms is one of the popular contact form builder WordPress plugins that provides advanced file uploader to allow users to upload files on their WordPress website. 

Some of the best features of Ninja Forms are as follows – 

  1. It allows you to set the maximum and minimum for file uploads.
  2. It lets you set the number of maximum file uploads.
  3. You can set allowed file-types including documents, videos, images, and more. 
  4. It allows you to choose the storage for the file uploads – Server or WordPress media library. 
  5. It allows you to rename the uploaded files. 

Talking about cloud storage integration, Ninja Forms lets you automatically save file uploads to – 

  1. WordPress media library,
  2. Amazon S3,
  3. Google Drive, and
  4. Dropbox. 

Let’s move on to how to create a file upload form on your WordPress using Ninja Forms. 

1. Install & Activate Ninja Forms WordPress Plugin

First, install and activate the Ninja Forms plugin


2. Activate File Uploads Add-on

Next, activate the file uploads add-on from Dashboard > Ninja Forms > Addons > File Uploads


3. Add a New Form

After activating the addon, add a new file upload form from Dashboard> Ninja Forms > Add New

add-new-form-ninja-forms

4. Add File Upload Field to the New Form

Now you need to add File Upload Fields along with the basic fields including name, email, etc. 

choose-the-file-upload-field-ninja-forms

5. Configuring your File Upload field Settings

Next, you need to configure your file upload field settings. 

ninja-forms-file-uploads-field-configuration-settings

You can – 

  1. Change the label, 
  2. Enable/disable required option,
  3. Enable/disable “Save to server” option, 
  4. Rename the upload file name, and 
  5. Choose “Save to Media Library” Option. 
ninja-forms-file-uploads-restrictions-settings

Apart from the above, there are other restriction options including – 

  1. File limit,
  2. Maximum file size for the uploaded file, 
  3. Minimum file size for the uploaded file, and
  4. Allowed file types (including .xls, pdf, .png, .jpg, etc). 

6. Additional File Upload General Settings

Go to Dashboard > Ninja Forms > File Uploads > Upload Settings

ninja-forms-file-uploads-general-settings

Final Note on Creating WordPress File Upload Forms

So these were the WordPress plugins with which you can easily upload files on WordPress without having any coding knowledge. 

You can easily perform even complex tasks. For example, you can – 

  1. Accept guest posting submissions, 
  2. Receive images uploaded during a photo contest or a giveaway contest, and 
  3. Receive project requirement files uploaded by a client. 

If you have a tight budget and looking for a decent solution, you can go with Ninja Forms

But if you are looking for a feature-rich online form solution, you must opt WPForms.

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