---
layout: article
title: Storage
description: Manage self-hosted storage options with Appwrite. Explore file storage, uploads, and customization in your self-hosted Appwrite environment.
---

Appwrite's Storage Service can be configured to store files locally, or with self-hosted and cloud storage services. 
By default, Appwrite's Storage Service **stores files on your server's local storage**.
If you expect large volumes of data or the need to have scalable data storage, you may choose to use a separate storage service.

# Available adapters {% #available-adapters %}
Appwrite supports AWS S3, Digital Ocean Spaces, Backblaze, Akamai Object Storage, and Wasabi as storage adapters. 
Some of these services can be self-hosted, just like Appwrite.

You can select which storage adapter to use by setting the `_APP_STORAGE_DEVICE` environment variable. Valid values are `local`, `s3`, `dospaces`, `backblaze`, `linode`, and `wasabi`. Each storage adapter requires its own set of additional environment variables to configure.

{% arrow_link href="/docs/advanced/self-hosting/environment-variables" %}
Learn more about storage environment variables 
{% /arrow_link %}

# Maximum file size {% #maximum-file-size %}

The maximum size for a single file upload is controlled by the `_APP_STORAGE_LIMIT` environment variable, which defaults to 30 MB. 
[Learn more about environment variables](/docs/advanced/self-hosting/environment-variables).

{% info title="Applying changes" %}

After editing your `docker-compose.yml` or `.env` files, you will need to recreate your Appwrite stack by running the following compose command in your terminal.

```sh
docker compose up -d
```

You can verify if the changes have been successfully applied by running this command:

```sh
docker compose exec appwrite vars
```

{% /info %}