File select In HTML, a file-select control is a component of a web form with which a user can select a local file. When the form is submitted (perhaps together with other form data), the file is uploaded to the web server. There, when the file arrives, some action usually takes place, such as saving the file on the web server. However, the particular action that takes place is determined by the server-side script to which the form is submitted. ==Code example== Here is a code example of a web form with a file-select control. It is the input element with type="file" that creates the file-select control.