---
title: "File References"
slug: "file-references"
description: "This document discusses File References in Decisions. File References prevent files from being saved to the memory, and store them on the server's file system instead. "
tags: ["File References", "File Management"]
updated: 2026-05-22T20:01:20Z
published: 2026-05-22T20:01:20Z
canonical: "documentation.decisions.com/file-references"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.decisions.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# File References

To understand the differences between all the file types, refer to the [File Type Overview](https://documentation.decisions.com/version-10/docs/file-type-overview) article.

## Overview

**File References** provide a way to access a file through a Flow or process without processing the file in memory. Instead, the file will be stored and accessed within the [FileStorage](/version-10/docs/file-storage), increasing efficiency by reducing the amount of data accessed by a Flow. This is advantageous over FileData for large files, as the file does not need to exist in memory to be utilized. To utilize File References in a Flow, steps such as the [**Load From File Data**](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/load-from-file-data) or [**Load From Path**](https://documentation.decisions.com/step-library/docs/load-from-path) will create File References to a file stored locally.

### Specify Max File Size

Under COMMON PROPERTIES the Max File Size and be set to limit to prevent users from uploading files beyond a necessary size. In cases where large files need to be uploaded, there is an overall hard limit of 1e21 KB.

## Example

Add upload and download steps on the Flow. Create another example of the flow using file data for comparison. Most of the information on File References is covered in [File Type Overview](https://documentation.decisions.com/version-10/docs/file-type-overview).

The below example will allow a user to download a file using File Reference as its input.

1. [Create a Flow](/version-10/docs/create-flows). Add two Form steps to the Flow itself.
2. [Design a Form](/version-10/docs/create-forms) with a [File Upload](/version-10/docs/using-the-multiple-file-upload-and-download-controls) control. In the Properties, Set the Output Type to use File Reference.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1779214821181.png)
3. Save and Close the Form Designer.
4. On the second Form, add a File Download control. This will pull and download the File from the machine.