# Working with the file system

Flash® Player provides basic file reading and writing capabilities, via the
FileReference class. For security reasons, when running in Flash Player, the
user must always grant permission before you can read or write a file.

Adobe® AIR® provides more complete access to the file system of the host
computer than is available in Flash Player. Using the AIR file system API, you
can access and manage directories and files, create directories and files, write
data to files, and so on.

- [Using the FileReference class](./using-the-filereference-class.md)
- [Using the AIR file system API](./using-the-air-file-system-api.md)

More Help topics

![](../../img/flashplatformLinkIndicator.png)
[flash.net.FileReference](https://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/net/FileReference.html)

![](../../img/flashplatformLinkIndicator.png)
[flash.net.FileReferenceList](https://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/net/FileReferenceList.html)

![](../../img/flashplatformLinkIndicator.png)
[flash.filesystem.File](https://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/filesystem/File.html)
