Files
Files live in the space, in folders, with versions — and they can be attached to contacts, shared by link, requested from somebody, and sent for signature. A contact's own files also show on the contact's page (see Files on a record below).
Where to find it
| Screen | Where it lives | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
Files — /files | the sidebar | the space-wide browser |
File settings — /admin/files | Settings → Files → File Settings | every knob behind the behaviour below |
/files needs permission to read files; a person without it is told so rather than shown an empty folder. The Trash — /files/trash, the Trash link at the top of /files — needs its own permission. File settings needs the settings read permission, and writing at space level needs the settings manage permission while writing globally needs the global-scope permission.
Who can do this
| To do this | You need |
|---|---|
| Open Files, preview, download, see versions | crm.files.read |
| Upload, or import from cloud storage | crm.files.upload (cloud import also needs permission to use the space's connections) |
| Edit a description | crm.files.update |
| Pin or unpin | crm.files.pin |
| Move to trash | crm.files.delete |
| Create folders, apply a folder template | crm.files.folders.manage |
| Share link | crm.files.share_links.manage |
| Send for signature | crm.files.sign.send |
| Request files | crm.files.requests.manage |
| Attach to contact | crm.contacts.write |
| On a record: Upload / Attach existing / New folder | crm.files.upload / crm.files.read / crm.files.folders.manage — each also needs the right to edit the record |
| Open the Trash | crm.files.trash.view |
| Restore a file from the Trash | crm.files.restore (a folder needs crm.files.folders.manage) |
| Delete forever | crm.files.purge, and your password |
| Open File settings | crm.settings.read |
| Save a file setting for the space | crm.settings.manage |
| Save a file setting globally | system.scope.global_write |
A button you may not use is not shown.
The browser
All files is the root; folders nest below it in the Folders tree beside the list, where New folder adds one. Switch between List and Grid with the view mode control, and use the Search… box to find a file by name. The Storage meter shows how much of the space's quota is used, warns as it fills up, and says "Storage quota is full — new uploads will be refused" when it is full.
Click a file to preview it; the buttons beside the preview are the actions below.
Getting files in
- Upload — or just drop files onto the page; the hint "Drop files to upload them into the current folder" appears as you drag.
- Import from cloud storage — bring files in from a connected provider.
- Request files — ask somebody to send files in, rather than emailing to ask.
The Uploads panel shows what is in flight, and Clear finished tidies it.
Working with what is there
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Attach to contact | file one or more documents against a contact's record |
| Move to folder | move the selection |
| Share link | produce a link to the file |
| Send for signature | start a signature request |
| Versions | the file's history — a new upload of the same name is a version, not a replacement |
| Edit description | the note people read beside it |
| Pin / Unpin | keep a file at the top |
| Download as ZIP / Download selection | take several files, or the folder you are in, at once |
| Apply folder template | create a standard folder structure in one step |
Select several files and a bar says how many are selected ("3 selected"); Download as ZIP and Attach to contact then apply to all of them.
Trash
Move to trash is reversible, and the confirmation says so — you can restore it from the trash later.
The Trash page explains the whole lifecycle in its own words: deleted files and folders wait there until the retention window runs out, then they are removed for good. Each item shows who deleted it, when, and the Time left before that happens. Restore puts an item back where it was — restoring a folder brings its files and subfolders back in place, not as a flat heap.
Files on a record
A contact's page has an Attachments panel, and record pages can also carry a Files card (a widget). Both show the same files: those attached to the record, those filed in the record's own folder, and — on a contact shared into this space — the files shared with it, tagged shared. In the Attachments panel each of the record's own files is tagged Linked (attached), In folder (filed in the record's folder), or both.
The bar above the files does the work without leaving the page:
- Upload (or drop files on it) — the file is uploaded, attached to the record, and filed in the record's own folder, Records › (type) › (record), which is created the first time it is needed;
- Attach existing — pick files already in Files;
- New folder — a folder under the record's own folder;
- Open in file manager — opens Files at the record's folder (or at All files while the record has none).
Each needs its own permission (see the table above) and the right to edit the record. In the Attachments panel, Detach takes a file off the record without deleting it: "The file stays in Files; it just stops showing on this record." A file that is also filed in the record's folder keeps showing there.
How the Files card is set up — its columns, its folder, type and date filters, Include shared-in files, and whether it shows the upload and attach buttons — is on Record-page widgets.
File settings
One page carries every file knob: uploads, folders, versions, trash, sharing, signatures, requests, ZIP export, quota and scanning. Filter the list to find one.
Each row shows the Setting, its Effective value and where it Comes from. Values resolve user → space → global → default, and the Comes from badge says which layer wins right now — Personal override, Space, Global or System default. Press Edit on a row; in the editor Save for picks the layer you are writing to, and Reset clears that layer so the value is inherited again. This is the same cascade as everywhere else in the application; see Settings for how to read it.
Validation happens before anything is sent: a number field says Enter a number, an out-of-range value says Out of the allowed range, a choice field says Pick one of the allowed values, and a setting that cannot be saved at the level you chose says "This setting cannot be saved at the selected level." rather than failing on save.
One setting decides whether records get their own folders: with it off, a record's uploads are attached but not filed, and New folder on a record says that record folders are switched off for this space.
If a value arrived from a template it is badged From template, and overriding it warns you first: overriding detaches it — template updates will no longer change it.