> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://elephas.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Add Files and Folders to a Brain

> Add your PDFs, Word files, spreadsheets and whole folders to an Elephas Brain by choosing or dragging them in, then follow each file until it is Ready.

Open a Brain, then drag your files or a whole folder onto its page, or click **Add** and choose **Files…** or **Folder…**. Elephas copies each file, reads it and indexes it on your computer, and the file becomes searchable as soon as it is ready.

## Before you start

* Create or open the Brain the files belong in. See [create and manage Brains](/docs/brains-and-documents/create-and-manage-brains).
* Check your files are a [supported type](/docs/brains-and-documents/supported-file-types): PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, CSV, Markdown, text, RTF, HTML, EPUB and images.
* In a Team workspace, you need a role on the Team Brain that lets you add files. Readers can ask a Team Brain but cannot add to it. See [team roles and permissions](/docs/teams/team-roles-and-permissions).

## Steps

### Drag files or a folder in

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Brain">
    Click the Brain in the sidebar, or open **Brains** (⌘3 on Mac, Ctrl+3 on Windows) and click its card.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Drag your files onto the page">
    Drag files, a folder, or a mix of both from Finder or File Explorer anywhere over the Brain's page. The page shows **Drop to add to** and the Brain's name. Release to add them.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Watch them get ready">
    Each file appears in the list and moves through its stages until it is ready to ask. See [How it works](#how-it-works).
  </Step>
</Steps>

Dropping only works on a Brain's page. Home, Ask, Brains and Settings ignore a drop, because they do not name a Brain to add to.

### Choose files or a folder

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Mac">
    1. Open the Brain.
    2. Click **Add**, then choose **Files…** (⌘O) or **Folder…** (⌥⌘O). The same commands are in the **File** menu as **Add Files…** and **Add Folder…**.
    3. Select your files or folder in the Finder window and click **Open**.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Windows">
    1. Open the Brain.
    2. Click **Add**, then choose **Files…** (Ctrl+O) or **Folder…** (Ctrl+Alt+O). The same commands are in the **File** menu as **Add Files…** and **Add Folder…**.
    3. Select your files or folder in the File Explorer window and confirm.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

The keyboard shortcuts and **File** menu commands work while a Brain's page is open. If no Brain is open, they are greyed out.

## How it works

### From added to ready

Indexing happens on your computer. Always. Each file goes through these steps, and its row shows where it is:

| You see | What Elephas is doing |
| - | - |
| **Queued…** | Waiting its turn |
| **Copying…** | Making its own copy of your file |
| **Extracting…** | Reading the text, including OCR for scanned pages |
| **Processing…** | Splitting the text into passages |
| **Indexing meaning…** | Building the search model's index, so search finds passages by meaning |
| **Indexing…** | Building the word index |

When a file is ready, its status disappears. A quiet row is a good row: only files with something to say carry a label. A file that failed shows **Couldn't be read**, with the reason under its name.

When the last file in a batch finishes, Elephas tells you, for example **Indexing finished. 12 documents are ready.**

The tabs above the list help you check a large Brain at a glance: **All**, **Added** (ready to ask) and **Error** (could not be read). Each shows a count.

### Elephas keeps its own copy

Elephas copies each file into its data folder before reading it. Your original stays exactly where it was, and your Brain keeps working if you later move, rename or delete the original. See [where your data is stored](/docs/privacy-and-security/where-your-data-is-stored).

### Folders

* A folder is read all the way down, including subfolders, up to 8 levels deep.
* A folder can hold up to 25,000 files. A larger folder is refused as a whole, never cut short: **This folder holds too many files to add at once. Add a smaller folder, or the files you need.**
* Hidden files and folders are skipped. Shortcuts and symbolic links are not followed.
* Files Elephas cannot read are reported once, as a count, not one message per file.
* A folder is read once, when you add it. Elephas does not watch it for new files. To pick up new or changed files, add the folder again.

### Adding a file that is already there

* **The same file, unchanged:** nothing happens. Elephas does not create a second copy.
* **The same file from the same place, changed since you added it:** Elephas adds it as a new version of the existing document. See [update documents](/docs/brains-and-documents/update-documents-and-versions).
* **The same content under another name:** Elephas links it to the document already in the Brain instead of indexing it twice.

### When you can ask

You can ask as soon as the first file is ready. The rest keep going in the background. A file that is still getting ready is not searched yet.

After a file is ready, Elephas may keep working on it quietly. Its row can show **Recognising text…**, **Protecting…**, **Summarising…** or **Upgrading…** for a while. The document is already searchable during these steps.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="A file says Couldn't be read">
    The reason is shown under the file's name. Common ones are an unsupported type, a file over the size limit, a password-protected PDF, or a scanned page with no text recognition installed. Fix the cause, then click **Retry** on the row. See [file import errors](/docs/troubleshooting/file-import-errors).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="This folder holds nothing Elephas can read">
    None of the files in the folder or its subfolders is a supported type. Check [supported file types](/docs/brains-and-documents/supported-file-types). Apple Pages, Numbers and Keynote files are not supported yet. Export them to PDF, Word, Excel or PowerPoint first.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The import was interrupted">
    Elephas was closed while the file was being read. Click **Retry** on the row. There is no way to stop a large import that is running, other than quitting Elephas.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Supported file types and limits" href="/docs/brains-and-documents/supported-file-types" />

  <Card title="Add web pages" href="/docs/brains-and-documents/add-web-pages" />

  <Card title="Scanned PDFs and OCR" href="/docs/brains-and-documents/scanned-pdfs-and-images-ocr" />

  <Card title="File import errors" href="/docs/troubleshooting/file-import-errors" />
</CardGroup>


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.