Is it possible to get a prefab object from its asset path?

For everybody new: The answers above weren't working for me with the Unity versions from 2019 and on.

Yes, you might want to check the Docs at https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/LoadingResourcesatRuntime.html

Here it says

you simply create a new folder inside the Project View , and name the folder “Resources”. You can have multiple Resource Folders organized differently in your Project. Whenever you want to load an asset from one of these folders, you call Resources.Load()

- So, you have to move your files e.g. to Assets/Resources/ - let us assume your prefab is called Cube.prefab it is now at Assets/Resources/Cube.prefab. - To load it programmatically, you now can call Resources.Load("Cube"); (Note: You neither need the Resources prefix, nor the .prefab ending) - Instantiation is the same as above: GameObject.Instantiate((UnityEngine.Object) Resources.Load("Cube"), Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);

Long story short:

  private UnityEngine.Object LoadPrefabFromFile(string filename)
  {
      Debug.Log("Trying to load LevelPrefab from file ("+filename+ ")...");
      var loadedObject = Resources.Load("Levels/" + filename);
      if (loadedObject == null)
      {
          throw new FileNotFoundException("...no file found - please check the configuration");
      }
      return loadedObject;
 }
     
  // Called via:
  var loadedPrefabResource = LoadPrefabFromFile("Cube");
  Instantiate(loadedPrefabResource, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);

@tmdchi you may want to have a look

 UnityEngine.Object pPrefab = Resources.Load("Assets/Prefab/Items/Key_yellow"); // note: not .prefab!
 GameObject pNewObject = (GameObject)GameObject.Instantiate(pPrefab, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);

You don't have to use the ressource folder as long as you want to use this only in the editor, not at runtime.

Here is a little script that finds you all prefabs in a specific folder:

 private void GetAllPrefabs()
     {
         string[] foldersToSearch = {"Assets"};
         List<GameObject> allPrefabs = GetAssets<GameObject>(foldersToSearch, "t:prefab");
     }
     
 public static List<T> GetAssets<T>(string[] _foldersToSearch, string _filter) where T : UnityEngine.Object
     {
         string[] guids = AssetDatabase.FindAssets(_filter, _foldersToSearch);
         List<T> a = new List<T>();
         for (int i = 0; i < guids.Length; i++)
         {
             string path = AssetDatabase.GUIDToAssetPath(guids[i]);
             a.Add(AssetDatabase.LoadAssetAtPath<T>(path));
         }
         return a;
     }

This is what worked for me (unity 2017.3)

 UnityEngine.Object prefab = AssetDatabase.LoadAssetAtPath("Assets/Prefabs/PlayerController.prefab", typeof(PlayerController)); 
 PlayerController player = Instantiate(prefab) as PlayerController;