You can upload files to Amazon S3 using the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or AWS SDKs. For files over 100 MB, multipart upload is recommended to improve performance and reliability.
Uploading files to S3 is a fundamental task, and AWS provides several tools to fit different use cases, from one-time manual uploads to automated, high-volume data pipelines. For objects larger than 100 MB, and especially mandatory for objects over 5 GB, you should use the Multipart Upload feature to ensure reliability [citation:3].
Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon S3 console.
Navigate to the bucket where you want to upload your file.
Click the 'Upload' button. You can then drag and drop files or folders, or use the 'Add files'/'Add folders' buttons to select them.
Configure upload settings as needed (e.g., storage class, encryption, metadata).
Click the 'Upload' button to start the upload.
The console is ideal for one-off uploads but not suitable for automating repetitive tasks [citation:2].
The AWS CLI is a command-line tool that allows you to manage S2 from your terminal. After installing and configuring it with aws configure, you can use the following commands [citation:2]:
For programmatic uploads within your applications, AWS provides SDKs for various languages like Python (boto3), JavaScript, Java, and others [citation:5][citation:6]. This method is essential for integrating S3 into your workflows.
For large files (over 100MB), using a single PUT request can be slow and unreliable because a network interruption would force you to restart the entire upload. Multipart upload solves this by splitting the file into smaller chunks, uploading them independently, and then reassembling them on S3 [citation:1][citation:3]. This offers several benefits [citation:1][citation:3]:
Resilience: If a part fails to upload, you only need to retry that specific part, not the entire file.
Pause & Resume: You can pause an upload and resume it later.
Parallel Uploads: You can upload multiple parts simultaneously, speeding up the process.
Required for Files >5GB: While recommended for files over 100 MB, multipart upload is required for files larger than 5 GB [citation:3].
The AWS CLI and SDKs handle multipart uploads automatically for you when using commands like aws s3 cp or the upload_file method in boto3, simplifying the process [citation:3][citation:5].
AWS Management Console: Best for simple, one-off uploads of a few files.
AWS CLI: Perfect for scripting, automating uploads, and handling large batches of files.
AWS SDKs: Essential for integrating S3 uploads directly into your applications, whether they are Python scripts, web applications, or mobile backends.