How to initialize LittleFS in Arduino on the ESP32 (PlatformIO)

In order to use the LittleFS library that comes with Arduino on the ESP32, use the following function

#include <LittleFS.h>

bool filesystemOK = false;

void InitFilesystem() {
  // Initialize LittleFS
  if (!LittleFS.begin(false /* false: Do not format if mount failed */)) {
    Serial.println("Failed to mount LittleFS");
    if (!LittleFS.begin(true /* true: format */)) {
      Serial.println("Failed to format LittleFS");
    } else {
      Serial.println("LittleFS formatted successfully");
      filesystemOK = true;
    }
  } else { // Initial mount success
    filesystemOK = true;
  }
}

Additionally, you need to configure PlatformIO to use LittleFS:

board_build.filesystem = littlefs

Now, in setup(), call

InitFilesystem();

If you have errors including LittleFS.h, you might need to explicitly use a recent arduino-esp32 version in platformio.ini:

platform_packages = framework-arduinoespressif32 @ https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32.git#2.0.5

In case you absolutely need to use an older arduino-esp32 version that doesn’t support LittleFS out of the box, you can use the lorol/LittleFS library as outlined in our previous post: How to initialize LittleFS in PlatformIO on the ESP32 using the lorol/LittleFS library

Full platformio.ini example:

[env:esp32dev]
platform = espressif32
platform_packages = framework-arduinoespressif32 @ https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32.git#2.0.5
board = esp32dev
framework = arduino
board_build.filesystem = littlefs
monitor_speed = 115200