---
title: Storing files
related:
- https://docs.kentico.com/k81/configuring-kentico/optimizing-website-performance.md
---
> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).
Page attachments and CMS.File pages can be physically stored in the file system, in the database, or in both. You can define this in the **Settings** application in the **System -> Files** category using the **Store files in file system** and **Store files in database** options.
The following three combinations can be achieved using the settings:
- **File system** - the files are stored in the configured folder on your disk. This option provides the best performance. However, the **Modify** permissions on the disk must be granted to the ASP.NET account on your machine, which is not always possible. The process of granting the **Modify** permission is described in [Disk permissions problems](https://docs.kentico.com/k81/installation/troubleshooting-installation-issues/disk-permission-problems.md).
- **Database** - the files are stored in the database. This option provides worse performance, but doesn't require the **Modify** permission for the file system and allows you to easily backup the uploaded files as part of your database.
- **Both - Database and file system** - this option combines the advantages of both options. It provides the same performance as the file system-only option since the files are stored in the file system. At the same time, you can use the full-text search because the database is also available.
## Page attachments and metafiles location
Page attachments are stored in the file system under _\~//files_, metafiles are stored under _\~//metafiles_. Both these folders can be located in different locations, which can be configured using the **Settings -> System -> Files -> Files folder** settings option. Learn more in [Settings - Files](https://docs.kentico.com/k81/configuring-kentico/managing-sites/configuring-settings-for-sites/settings-system/settings-files.md).
> **Note:** **Note**: When you change the location of the file folder, the system does NOT automatically move any existing files to the new location. To ensure that the system can access the files, you need to manually move them from the old location to the new one in the file system.
## Form files location
Files uploaded by website users into [forms](https://docs.kentico.com/k81/managing-website-content/forms.md) are always stored in the file system. The default location is _\~//BizFormFiles_. You can customize the location in **Settings -> System -> Files -> Custom form files folder**.
Files may be submitted as part of form records, typically when a form contains an uploader type field (specifically the _Upload file_ field type/form control). You can adjust the following settings related to files submitted through forms and their storage in the file system:
| Storage | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Custom form files folder | Folder where files uploaded via [forms](https://docs.kentico.com/k81/managing-website-content/forms.md) are stored. You can use:
**physical disk path**: e.g. _c:\myfiles\mysite_
**virtual path**: _\~/UploadedFiles_
**UNC path**: _\\\server\folder_
If no value is entered, the files are stored in the _\~//BizFormFiles/_ folder. |
| Use site-specific subfolders for custom form files folder | This setting is only applied when a **Custom form files folder** is configured. If enabled, attachment files will be stored in a sub-folder named as the site code name under the custom files folder, i.e. _/_. It is useful for better orientation in files when multiple sites are running in the system. |
| Security | |
| Upload extensions | Specifies which extensions are allowed for uploaded files. You can restrict the types of uploaded files by entering a limited list of extensions separated by semicolons, for example: _gif;jpg;doc;pdf_
This allows you to block users from uploading potentially dangerous files, such as ASPX scripts. If no value is specified, uploading will be allowed for all file types. |
## Media library files location
Files stored in [media libraries](https://docs.kentico.com/k81/managing-website-content/working-with-files/media-library-files.md) are always stored in the file system. The default location is _\~//media_, while the location of the folder can be customized in **Settings -> Content -> Media -> Media libraries folder**, as described in [Configuring media libraries](https://docs.kentico.com/k81/managing-website-content/configuring-the-environment-for-content-editors/configuring-media-libraries.md).