How Can I Force File Downloads Using PHP?

Enforcing File Downloads with PHP

Forcing a file download when a user visits a webpage can be a useful feature in many scenarios. PHP offers various methods to achieve this, including leveraging the file_get_contents function.

Using readfile()

However, when attempting to download a file using header(location), you may encounter issues with a stalled redirect. To address this, consider employing the readfile() function.

$file_url = 'http://www.myremoteserver.com/file.exe';
header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: Binary");
header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=\"" . basename($file_url) . "\"");
readfile($file_url);

Additionally, remember to specify the appropriate content type based on the file's type (e.g., application/zip, application/pdf). This ensures that the browser does not trigger the save-as dialog.

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