Organize files and folders

Prerequisites

• A workspace with at least a few uploaded documents. See Upload your first documents.

Steps

1. Open your archive and go to the folder view.
2. Create a new folder and give it a name that reflects how you think about your documents — for example “Invoices”, “Contracts”, or a project or client name. Businesses often mirror their existing filing structure; private users often organize by year or by topic.
3. Create subfolders where it helps, such as a folder per year inside “Invoices” or a folder per client inside “Contracts”.
4. Move existing documents into folders by selecting them and choosing “Move items”, or by dragging them onto a folder.
5. Rename or delete folders as your structure evolves — moving documents between folders doesn’t affect their extracted text or searchability. Deleted items go to the trash, where you can restore them for 30 days.

Expected result

Your documents sit inside a folder structure you chose. Browsing a folder shows only the documents inside it, while quick search and AI archive search still cover every folder you have access to.

Common problems

• I can’t find a document I moved. Folder organization is manual — a document only appears in the folder you placed it in. Use quick search to locate it by filename or content instead of browsing folders.
• Multiple people moved documents differently. In a business workspace, agree on a folder structure with your team before importing large numbers of documents, so everyone files consistently.
• I imported documents through a connector and they’re not in the folder I expected. Connector imports go into a folder Paperplane creates for that connector, keeping the subfolder structure of the source. Move documents from there into your own structure; see Choose folders, file types, and run an import for how imports work.