diff --git a/.changeset/long-bags-itch.md b/.changeset/long-bags-itch.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f7ff2f682d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/long-bags-itch.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+'@keystonejs/file-adapters': major
+---
+
+Providing an access key, secret access key or region directly to AWS has been deprecated (according to AWS). As such, parameters `accessKeyId`, `secretAccessKey` and `region` are no longer `required` on the S3Adapter's constructor and - if provided this way - are ignored by the S3Adapter. These parameters can however, still be provided via the optional `s3Options` parameter object if required like so:
+
+``` Javascript
+const fileAdapter = new S3Adapter({
+  bucket: 'bucket-name',
+  // accessKeyId: 'ACCESS_KEY_ID', // No longer required. Ignored if provided here
+  // secretAccessKey: 'SECRET_ACCESS_KEY', // No longer required. Ignored if provided here
+  // region: 'us-west-2' // No longer required. Ignored if provided here
+  s3Options: {
+    accessKeyId: 'ACCESS_KEY_ID',
+    secretAccessKey: 'SECRET_ACCESS_KEY',
+    region: 'us-west-2',
+  }
+});
+```
diff --git a/packages/file-adapters/README.md b/packages/file-adapters/README.md
index e988f87e31b..c9bb0a130d7 100644
--- a/packages/file-adapters/README.md
+++ b/packages/file-adapters/README.md
@@ -105,15 +105,16 @@ const CF_DISTRIBUTION_ID = 'cloudfront-distribution-id';
 const S3_PATH = 'uploads';
 
 const fileAdapter = new S3Adapter({
-  accessKeyId: 'ACCESS_KEY_ID',
-  secretAccessKey: 'SECRET_ACCESS_KEY',
-  region: 'us-west-2',
   bucket: 'bucket-name',
   folder: S3_PATH,
   publicUrl: ({ id, filename, _meta }) =>
     `https://${CF_DISTRIBUTION_ID}.cloudfront.net/${S3_PATH}/${filename}`,
   s3Options: {
+    // Optional paramaters to be supplied directly to AWS.S3 constructor
     apiVersion: '2006-03-01',
+    accessKeyId: 'ACCESS_KEY_ID',
+    secretAccessKey: 'SECRET_ACCESS_KEY',
+    region: 'us-west-2',
   },
   uploadParams: ({ filename, id, mimetype, encoding }) => ({
     Metadata: {
@@ -125,17 +126,16 @@ const fileAdapter = new S3Adapter({
 
 ### Config
 
-| Option            | Type              | Default     | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
-| ----------------- | ----------------- | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
-| `accessKeyId`     | `String`          | Required    | AWS access key ID                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
-| `secretAccessKey` | `String`          | Required    | AWS secret access key                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
-| `region`          | `String`          | Required    | AWS region                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
-| `bucket`          | `String`          | Required    | S3 bucket name                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
-| `folder`          | `String`          | Required    | Upload folder from root of bucket                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
-| `getFilename`     | `Function`        | `null`      | Function taking a `{ id, originalFilename }` parameter. Should return a string with the name for the uploaded file on disk.                                                                                                              |
-| `publicUrl`       | `Function`        |             | By default the publicUrl returns a url for the S3 bucket in the form `https://{bucket}.s3.amazonaws.com/{key}/{filename}`. This will only work if the bucket is configured to allow public access.                                       |
-| `s3Options`       | `Object`          | `undefined` | For available options refer to the [AWS S3 API](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSJavaScriptSDK/latest/AWS/S3.html)                                                                                                                         |
-| `uploadParams`    | `Object|Function` | `{}`        | A config object or function returning a config object to be passed with each call to S3.upload. For available options refer to the [AWS S3 upload API](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSJavaScriptSDK/latest/AWS/S3.html#upload-property). |
+| Option         | Type              | Default     | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
+| -------------- | ----------------- | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `bucket`       | `String`          | Required    | S3 bucket name                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
+| `folder`       | `String`          | `''`        | Upload folder from root of bucket. By default uploads will be sent to the bucket's root folder.                                                                                                                                          |
+| `getFilename`  | `Function`        | `null`      | Function taking a `{ id, originalFilename }` parameter. Should return a string with the name for the uploaded file on disk.                                                                                                              |
+| `publicUrl`    | `Function`        |             | By default the publicUrl returns a url for the S3 bucket in the form `https://{bucket}.s3.amazonaws.com/{key}/{filename}`. This will only work if the bucket is configured to allow public access.                                       |
+| `s3Options`    | `Object`          | `undefined` | For available options refer to the [AWS S3 API](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSJavaScriptSDK/latest/AWS/S3.html)                                                                                                                         |
+| `uploadParams` | `Object|Function` | `{}`        | A config object or function returning a config object to be passed with each call to S3.upload. For available options refer to the [AWS S3 upload API](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSJavaScriptSDK/latest/AWS/S3.html#upload-property). |
+
+> **Note:** Authentication can be done in many different ways. One option is to include valid `accessKeyId` and `secretAccessKey` properties in the `s3Options` parameter. Other methods include setting environment variables. See [Setting Credentials in Node.js](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/v2/developer-guide/setting-credentials-node.html) for a complete set of options.
 
 ### Methods
 
diff --git a/packages/file-adapters/lib/s3.js b/packages/file-adapters/lib/s3.js
index c83a9e006d1..5050fef8073 100644
--- a/packages/file-adapters/lib/s3.js
+++ b/packages/file-adapters/lib/s3.js
@@ -3,26 +3,11 @@ const AWS = require('aws-sdk');
 const urlJoin = require('url-join');
 
 module.exports = class S3Adapter {
-  constructor({
-    accessKeyId,
-    secretAccessKey,
-    region,
-    bucket,
-    folder,
-    getFilename,
-    publicUrl,
-    s3Options,
-    uploadParams,
-  }) {
-    if (!accessKeyId || !secretAccessKey || !region || !bucket || !folder) {
-      throw new Error('S3Adapter requires accessKeyId, secretAccessKey, region, bucket, folder.');
+  constructor({ bucket, getFilename, publicUrl, s3Options, uploadParams, folder = '' }) {
+    if (!bucket) {
+      throw new Error('S3Adapter requires a bucket name.');
     }
-    this.s3 = new AWS.S3({
-      accessKeyId,
-      secretAccessKey,
-      region,
-      ...s3Options,
-    });
+    this.s3 = new AWS.S3(s3Options);
     this.bucket = bucket;
     this.folder = folder;
     if (getFilename) {