## Files App

Securely share files, links, and folders with clients

### Overview  
The Files App lets you and your clients securely share files, links, and folders with one another.

### App library  
#### Default files channel  
If you have companies enabled you can select a default channel on the _Settings > General_ page. The default channel works as follows:

| Companies enabled | Companies disabled |
| --- | --- |
| If the default channel is company-level, when a new client with a company is created then a company-level files channel is created. If in the future, other clients associated with the same company are created, they will be added to the existing company files channel.<br>If the default channel is client-level, when a new client with a company is created then a client-level files channel is created. New clients, regardless of their associated company, can always have their own files channel. | When a new client is created, a client-level files channel is always created. |

In _App Library > Files > Edit_, you can configure the following:

#### Always-on visibility  
You can control whether clients always have a _Files_ item on the sidebar that they can navigate to. Turn this off if you only want clients to see _Files_ on their sidebar if 1 or more files have been made visible to the client.

#### Clients can add files  
You can control if clients themselves can add files. Turn this off if you want clients to only be able to access files but not upload ones themselves.

#### Clients can delete files  
You can control if clients can delete files. Turn this off if you want to prevent clients from deleting files.

#### Clients can update folders  
You can control if clients can update the folder structure you have put in place. Turn this off if you want to "lock down your folder structure" and prevent clients from creating, uploading, renaming, moving, and deleting folders.

#### Folder Locking  
If you do not want to globally control whether clients can add, delete, or reorganize files, you can lock individual folders instead. When a folder is locked, clients cannot add files, delete files, or modify the folder structure inside that folder.

To lock a folder, click the menu button (…) next to the folder name and select _Lock Folder_. To unlock a folder, click the menu button (…) next to the folder name and select _Unlock Folder_.

If you lock a parent folder, all subfolders will be locked by default. You can then choose to unlock specific subfolders if you want clients to be able to upload or manage files in those areas.

### Internal user experience  
#### Key Workflows  
There are two main workflows for internal users.

**App view**  
To see a list of all file channels sorted by recent activity, navigate to the Files App by clicking on _Files_ in your sidebar. Here you'll see a **files channel** for every client, company, or group that you're sharing files with. From here, you can select a files channel to see the contained files and take actions like upload new files or create folders.

**Client Details view**  
To access a particular client's files channel you can click on a client on the **Clients** page and then navigate to the _Files_ tab. This will only surface the files channel associated with that particular client.

#### The Contextbar  
When viewing any client or company files channel, the _Contextbar_ is available on the right side of the screen. You can open it to quickly access client details, leave internal notes, or chat with your teammates — all without leaving the files channel. The Contextbar has three tabs:

- **Details**: View and edit the client or company's custom fields and properties.
- **Internal Notes**: Leave private notes about the client or company, visible only to your internal team.
- **Internal Chat**: Have a private conversation with your teammates about this client or company, never visible to clients.

#### Creating files channels  
After you create a client, they will always get a new files channel or be assigned to an existing files channel which will be either **client-level** or **company-level**. In addition, there are **group-level** files channels. These are useful if you want to share files with multiple clients associated with a company, but not everyone assigned to the company.

**How to create a channel:**  
1. Click on the _+_ on the files channels sidebar.
2. Select one or more clients, or select a company. Note that you cannot create a file channel that already exists.

**NOTE:** When creating a channel, clients associated with companies will display the company name below the client name. Clients with multiple companies will appear once for each company. Select the clients based on which company or companies you want to create the channel for.

#### Mass file share  
If you need to send files and folders to multiple clients or companies, you can use the _Mass File Share_ feature. Recipients will not have access to each other's files.

**How to mass share files and folders:**  
1. Click on the _+_ on the files channels sidebar.
2. Select _Mass file share_
3. Choose whether to share the files with multiple _companies_ or _clients_.
4. Upload the files and folders by clicking _Upload_ or dragging and dropping them.
5. Click _Share_ to complete the process.

#### Bulk actions  
You can select multiple files and folders to delete or download them in a single action.

1. Hover to the left of a file or folder icon to reveal the checkbox, then click it to select the item.
2. Select additional files or folders to add them to your selection.
3. Click _Download_ or _Delete_ to apply the action to all selected items.

### Client experience  
#### Email notifications  
Clients will automatically receive email notifications if one or more files were uploaded by an internal user. From there, they can navigate to your portal to access the files.

#### Portal notifications  
Clients can see files by clicking on _Files_ on the portal sidebar. In most cases, clients will only have one files channel so there is no file channels sidebar.

#### Bulk download  
Clients can select multiple files and folders to download them in a single action. Hover to the left of a file or folder icon to reveal the checkbox, select the items, and click _Download_.

### Previewing files  
Most file types can be previewed directly in the browser. You and your clients can double-click on a file to preview. See the FAQ below for a list of file types that support previews.

If a file type is not supported for previewing in the browser, you will be prompted to download the file. Microsoft file types such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. are not supported for previews.

**Note:** Fillable PDFs cannot be filled when previewing, the PDF must be downloaded.

## Frequently asked questions

Can I edit members of a File channel?

**Client file channels**  
Client file channels cannot be edited or deleted. If you wish to delete the file channel for an individual client, the client must be deleted.

**Company file channels**  
Company file channels are visible to all members of a company. If you wish to edit the members of a company, you will need to do so from the Clients page. Adding or removing a company from a client will add or remove the client from any company channels.

**Group file channels**  
You can create a group file channel if you wish to share files with a subset of clients within a company. Group channels are currently only supported for clients assigned to the same company.

To edit members of a group File channel, click the 3 dots in the top-right of the File channel. Select Edit members, and add or remove members using the checkboxes in the dropdown.

What characters can my clients and I use in file names when uploading to the Files App?

You can use any character except the following:

```
- / (forward-slash)
- \ (back-slash)
- * (asterisk)
- = (equals symbol)
- | (pipe)
- @ (at symbol)
- ^ (carrot)
```

Can I still request eSignatures from the Files App?

On January 18 2023 we deprecated the eSignature request functionality in the Files App because we launched a standalone Contracts App. All completed and open eSignature requests from the Files App were seamlessly migrated to the new Contracts App.

Which file types are supported for previewing in the browser?

We support the following file types:

- .bmp
- .csv
- .gif
- .jpg
- .pdf
- .png
- .tiff
- .txt
- .mp4
- .webp

Why can't I preview Word, Excel, Powerpoint, or other Microsoft files?

Microsoft Office files such as .doc/.docx, .xls/xlsx, .ppt/.pptx are not supported for in-browser previews, as they are required by Microsoft to be opened in the related Microsoft application. You and your clients will be prompted to download files of these types.

Is there a size limit for files?

For individual or company file channels, there is no size limit. However, upload times correlate with the file size and may take longer to upload.

Mass file sharing has a file size limit of 6 MB.

Can I recover deleted files?

No, once a file is deleted from a client or company channel, it cannot be restored.