---
title: "Connect Amazon S3"
url: "https://fileflare.io/docs/amazon-s3/"
description: "Connect your Amazon S3 storage to Fileflare for full control over file hosting, bandwidth, and pricing."
published: "2026-03-27T16:32:31+00:00"
modified: "2026-10-05T19:37:47+00:00"
---

Connect your own Amazon S3 bucket to Fileflare so files are hosted on your AWS account, not Fileflare’s storage. You control storage costs, bandwidth costs, and retention — Fileflare just acts as the delivery layer between your store and the bucket.

Available on the Growth plan and higher. These are advanced settings — you should be familiar with AWS IAM and S3 buckets before configuring. Cloudflare R2 is generally cheaper and easier; [use R2](/docs/cloudflare-r2/) unless you specifically need AWS.

## When you’d use this

- You’re [selling large digital files](/how-to-sell-large-digital-files-shopify/) and don’t want to pay Fileflare’s per-GB storage tier.
- Your team already runs in AWS and you want files alongside your other infrastructure.
- You need fine-grained control over bucket versioning, replication, or lifecycle rules.
- You want to upload files directly to S3 (via the AWS console, CLI, or other tooling) and have Fileflare read them.

## Set up the AWS side

### 1. Create the bucket

1. In AWS, create a new S3 bucket. Pick any name and region.
2. Block all public access (default). Fileflare delivers every download through a signed link that expires, so the bucket never needs to be public.

![Creating an S3 bucket in AWS](https://fileflare.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/4.png)    ### 2. Configure CORS on the bucket

Uploads go straight from your browser to the bucket, so the bucket has to allow them. In Fileflare, go to **Settings » Connect S3 storage**, click **Add connection**, and copy the **CORS config** shown at the bottom of the form. In AWS, go to your bucket’s **Permissions** tab, find **Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS)**, click **Edit**, paste the config, and save.

Paste it exactly as Fileflare shows it. Keep `*` as the allowed origin and `ETag` in the exposed headers, since large files upload in parts and those uploads fail without `ETag`.

If your bucket already has CORS rules, you can keep uploads and downloads in separate rules instead: one rule that allows `PUT` and exposes `ETag`, and one that allows `GET`. Fileflare accepts either one combined rule or separate ones. Either way, the bucket must allow `GET`, because your customers’ online file viewer reads files with it.

![Setting CORS on an S3 bucket](https://fileflare.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cors-aws-1024x593.jpg)    ### 3. Create an IAM user with API access

1. In AWS IAM, add a new user with programmatic access.
2. Attach a policy scoped to your bucket, like the one below.
3. Save the **Access key ID** and **Secret access key** — you’ll paste them into Fileflare.

Fileflare only needs these actions. Replace `your-bucket` with your bucket name:

```
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": ["s3:ListBucket", "s3:GetBucketCORS"],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:DeleteObject",
        "s3:AbortMultipartUpload",
        "s3:ListMultipartUploadParts"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket/*"
    }
  ]
}
```

`s3:GetBucketCORS` is optional. It lets Fileflare check your CORS config when you connect. Without it, that check is skipped, so do a test upload right after connecting.

## Connect Fileflare to the bucket

1. In Fileflare, go to **Settings » Connect S3 storage** and click **Add connection**.
2. For **Provider**, choose **Amazon S3**.
3. Enter your **Bucket** name and pick its **Region** (both are shown in your bucket’s details in the AWS console).
4. Enter a **Folder**, such as `fileflare` or your store name. It’s required: new files are stored under it.
5. Paste the **Access key ID** into **Access key** and the **Secret access key** into **Secret key**.
6. Click **Add connection**. Fileflare tests the connection before it saves.
7. Test by uploading an asset from the **Assets** page. If it succeeds, you’re done.

Amazon S3 doesn’t need an endpoint, so the form hides that field unless you turn on **Use path style endpoint**.

![S3 connection settings in Fileflare](https://fileflare.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/keys-add-1024x228.jpg)    ## Connection options

### Use path-style endpoint

Legacy compatibility flag for older S3 clients. Path-style puts the bucket in the URL path; virtual-hosted style puts it as a subdomain. Leave off unless your S3-compatible service requires path-style.

### Delete files in S3 when removed from the app

When enabled, deleting an asset in Fileflare also removes the file from your bucket. Off by default — leaving the file in your bucket is the safer default.

### Rename my files to keep their name unique

When enabled, uploaded files are stored under a UUID4 filename in the bucket (e.g. `3a7b...pdf`). The original filename is kept in Fileflare’s database for display and customer delivery. Prevents accidental overwrites if two uploads share a name. UUID4 renames are one-way — they can’t be reverted.

## Common issues

- **Upload fails with a CORS error** — the CORS config wasn’t saved on the bucket, or it was changed. Copy it from Fileflare again, paste it unchanged, and save.
- **The connection test fails its CORS check, but you set CORS up** — check that your rules allow `PUT` with `ETag` exposed and allow `GET`, whether that’s in one rule or two. If the access key has no `s3:GetBucketCORS` permission, Fileflare skips this check instead of failing the connection.
- **“Access denied” on upload or read** — the IAM user’s policy is missing an action. Compare it with the policy in step 3.
- **“Unable to connect to S3 bucket”** — check the bucket name, the region, and both keys.
- **I disconnected S3 and my files disappeared** — if you had **Delete files in S3 when removed from the app** enabled, removing assets in Fileflare also wiped them from S3. The setting is destructive — leave off unless you specifically want sync-delete behavior.

## FAQ

### Can I switch the connected S3 bucket later?

Yes. Add the new bucket connection and mark it primary. Existing files stay on the old bucket; new uploads go to the new one. To migrate old files, use **Replace asset** on each — the file gets re-uploaded to the new bucket.

### Can I use multiple S3-compatible buckets?

Yes — Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces, Wasabi, and others all work via the same custom-S3 connection.

## Keep learning

- [Cloudflare R2 (cheaper alternative)](/docs/cloudflare-r2/)
- [Other upload methods](/docs/methods-to-upload-add-files-to-fileflare/)
- [Storage tiers and quotas](/docs/how-much-storage-can-i-get/)