moodledata

The moodledata directory is a critical storage area used by Moodle. It should not normally be directly accessible from the public web.

The moodledata directory may contain:

• Uploaded course files.
• Assignment submissions.
• Cache files.
• Session files, depending on configuration.
• Temporary files.
• Generated files.
• Language packs.
• File repository content.

Important concepts:

• Moodle stores file metadata in the database.
• Moodle stores the actual file content in the file storage system under moodledata.
• Files are not normally stored using the original uploaded filename in a simple folder structure.
• Deleting files manually from moodledata can break Moodle content.

Security note: moodledata should be outside the public web root or protected so users cannot browse it directly through a URL.