Folders

Folders provide a familiar way to organize documents in a hierarchical structure. Like folders on your computer, Papermerge folders can contain documents and other folders, allowing you to create any organizational structure you need.

Tip

The main organizational instrument is categories. In a category you can specify what folder a document is stored in: once categorized, a document will be moved automatically into the folder specified by its category’s filing rule.

Folder Structure

Papermerge provides two special folders at the top level:

• Home — Your main working area. Create any folder structure here.
• Inbox — Where newly uploaded documents land before you organize them.

Within Home, you can create as many nested folders as you need:

Home/
├── Finances/
│   ├── Invoices/
│   │   ├── 2024/
│   │   └── 2023/
│   ├── Receipts/
│   └── Tax Documents/
├── Contracts/
│   ├── Active/
│   └── Archived/
└── Personal/

Creating Folders

To create a new folder:

1. Navigate to the location where you want the folder
2. Click New Folder
3. Enter a name
4. The folder is created immediately

You can create folders inside other folders to any depth.

Moving Items

Documents and folders can be moved around freely:

Drag and Drop

Note

Drag and Drop works only in Tile mode

1. Select the items you want to move
2. Open the secondary panel
3. In secondary panel go to the destination folder
4. Drag them to the destination folder: from the main panel (source) to the secondary panel (destination)
5. Drop to complete the move

The Inbox

The Inbox is a special folder designed for incoming documents:

• Uploaded documents can be directed to Inbox by default
• Use Inbox as a staging area before organizing
• Process documents from Inbox: review, add metadata, move to final location

Tip

Keep your Inbox clean. Regularly process incoming documents and move them to their proper folders. An empty Inbox means you’re on top of your document workflow.

Breadcrumb Navigation

When you’re deep in a folder hierarchy, the breadcrumb shows your current path:

Home > Finances > Invoices > 2024

Click any part of the breadcrumb to jump directly to that folder.

Folder Tags

Folders can have tags just like documents:

1. Select a folder
2. Apply tags using the tag button or right-click menu
3. Tags appear on the folder in the browser

Use folder tags to:

• Mark folders by project or client
• Indicate folder status (active, archived)
• Group related folders across the hierarchy

Sharing Folders

Note

Sharing folders with other team users or groups is available only for team accounts

Folders can be shared with other users or groups:

1. Select the folder you want to share
2. Open the sharing options
3. Choose users or groups to share with
4. Set permissions (view, edit)

Shared folders appear in the recipient’s view with a shared indicator.

Note

Sharing a folder shares its entire contents, including all subfolders and documents. Be careful what you share.

Automatic Organization

While folders provide manual organization, Papermerge can also organize documents automatically using filing rules in categories.

For example, with a filing rule /Clients/{Year}/:

1. You upload an invoice
2. Assign it to the Invoices category
3. The document is automatically moved to /Clients/2026/

See filing rules for more details.

Deleting Folders

When you delete a folder:

• Draft documents inside are deleted
• Archived documents follow retention rules (cannot be deleted if not expired)
• Subfolders are deleted recursively

Caution

Deleting a folder deletes all its contents. Make sure the folder is empty or contains only items you want to delete.

Best Practices

1. Consider filing rules — For high-volume categories, let filing rules organize documents automatically instead of filing manually.

2. Keep it shallow — Deep folder structures are hard to navigate. Prefer fewer levels with more folders at each level.

3. Use consistent naming — Establish naming conventions. “2024-03” or “March 2024” or “03-2024”? Pick one and stick to it.

4. Combine with metadata — Don’t replicate metadata in folder names. If you have a “Vendor” metadata field, you don’t need vendor subfolders.

5. Use Inbox properly — Don’t let the Inbox become a dumping ground. Process documents regularly.