PHP Get All File Paths by Extension (JSON, TXT, etc.) List View or Folder Tree Representation

Have you ever stared at a huge folder structure filled with all kinds of files — .json, .txt, .xml, maybe even some logs - and wished there was a quick way to just get all of them listed? You're not alone.

Whether you're a developer building a content manager, a data wrangler scraping through archives, or just a curious coder trying to understand what’s inside a project directory, this small PHP trick could save you hours.

Today, let’s walk through a powerful little PHP script that can:

List all files of a certain extension (like JSON, TXT, etc.)
Show them in a clean flat list
Or (if you're fancy) display them like a folder tree!

Why This Matters

I once had to clean up a large nested folder with hundreds of .json files — logs from a server running for years. Manually checking folders was frustrating. And that’s when I realized how much power lives in just a few lines of PHP.

That pain gave birth to this script.

What You'll Learn

By the end of this post, you'll know how to:

Recursively scan directories
Filter files by extension
Print file paths as a flat list or tree view
Easily customize the output to your needs

The Code – Clean and Simple

Let’s dive in. Here's the basic version that lists .json and .txt files:

$path = 'tren/musi/unit';
$rii = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(
    new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($path, RecursiveDirectoryIterator::SKIP_DOTS)
);

foreach ($rii as $file) {
    if ($file->isFile() && $file->getExtension() === 'json') {
        echo $file->getPathname() . PHP_EOL;
    }
}

Output Example (Tree View):

📂 Scanning directory: tren/musi/unit

📁 2025
📄 data1.json
📄 readme.txt
📁 2024
📄 config.json

Customize It!

You can tweak this script to:

Search only recent files (filemtime)
Ignore certain folders
Log results to a file
Output in JSON or HTML

Let me know if you'd like help expanding it for those features!

Real-World Use Cases

Building file browsers in admin dashboards
Preparing data for import/export
Backing up specific file types
Debugging what’s inside messy folder structures

Final Thoughts

Sometimes, the best solutions are simple. This PHP script is one of those tools I keep in my toolbox — it helps me explore, clean up, and make sense of digital chaos.

So the next time you're buried under a pile of files and need to dig out just the useful ones, remember: a few lines of PHP can be your flashlight.

Found this helpful?

If you'd like me to turn this into a downloadable tool or make a web interface for it, drop a message or comment below. Happy coding!