File Inbox

Paperwork rarely arrives where you work. An email from a client, a scanned letter, a PDF you downloaded: each one lands somewhere different. The File Inbox gives them all one door. You choose a folder on your computer, and anything you save or drag into it comes into PrimeTask by itself, ready to file with a click.

It works with any mail app, because every mail app can save an email or its attachment to a folder. The same goes for a scanner's "scan to folder" setting, a download, or a file a colleague sends you.

What you can do

How to open your File Inbox

• From any page: open the main header's ⋯ menu and choose File Inbox. It appears while File Inbox is on. You can hide this shortcut using Show in header menu in File Inbox settings.
• From Settings: open Settings → Data Management and, under File Inbox, click Open File Inbox. This is also where you set it up and change its settings: see File Inbox Settings.
• When files arrive: click Open on the message PrimeTask shows. When PrimeTask isn't in front, click the desktop notification instead.
• From a task: open the task and, in its Attachments section, click choose files from your File Inbox.
• From a task's Attachments panel: open it from the task list's Attachments column, or by clicking a task's attachment count on a board or in a project's Tasks tab, then click From File Inbox.
• From a project note: in the note you're writing, open the Attach files menu and choose From File Inbox.
• From CRM Files: click File Inbox on the CRM Files page (Pro feature).
• From a client's page: in Files, click Add files, then From your File Inbox (Pro feature). This works on contact, company, opportunity and activity pages.
• After a Notion import: click Open File Inbox when the import finishes, to see that import's files.

Wherever you open it, it's the same File Inbox. Pin the panel open to keep it beside the page while you work. A pinned File Inbox stays open when you go to where a file went.

Attach from any page

When opened from the header, Settings or an arrival message, each file offers Attach. Select several files to attach them together.

A suggested destination. Open your File Inbox on a task, project, contact, company, opportunity or activity page and it suggests that page, such as Attach to Quarterly report. On a project's page, it suggests a new note in that project. The Attach window opens with the suggestion already chosen, and you can choose somewhere else. Contacts, companies, opportunities and activities are suggested on Pro.

In the Attach window, choose a Space and, optionally, a Project. This doesn't switch the page you're working on. Search the list, and filter tasks by status and priority, or hide completed ones. On Pro, filter contacts and opportunities by company, and opportunities by contact.

• Tasks: select a task to see the files it already has. Choose Attach copies to add your selected files. Project tasks and subtasks are included.
• Project notes: choose a project, add optional note text and choose Create note. This creates a new note with the files, rather than adding them to an existing note. Notes take images, PDFs, Word and text files up to 10 MB each.
• Contacts, companies and opportunities (Pro): select a record to see its files. Choose Attach copies, or Link to keep the files in your File Inbox and link them to the record.
• Activities (Pro): choose a client to list all of their activities, newest first, and narrow them by type and date, or search. Without a client, the list shows your 50 newest activities from the last 30 days. Select an activity, then choose Attach copies or Link.

The files a destination already has can be opened, previewed or removed from it. Removing a file here keeps the file itself. If the Space is synced, the window says so before you attach. If a destination can't be saved, your files stay in your File Inbox.

Go to the destination. Click Go to task (or Go to project, Go to contact, and so on) under the destination's name, or Open on the message that says your files were attached. PrimeTask switches to that Space if it needs to and opens the destination. The Attach window closes, and so does your File Inbox unless you've pinned it open. A new project note has nothing to go to until you've created it.

Set up your File Inbox

Open Settings → Data Management and, under File Inbox, click Set Up. A few short steps follow:

Click Turn On File Inbox, and PrimeTask starts taking files in.

PrimeTask won't use a Space's File Sync folder, because anyone who shares that Space could read what you put there. It also won't use its own data folder, the folder your backups go to, the folder where it keeps your File Inbox's files, your whole home folder or a whole drive.

What happens when a file arrives

• PrimeTask waits until the file has finished saving, so a large scan or download comes in whole.
• It keeps its own copy and checks it. Only then, if you chose Move It to the Trash, does the original go to the Trash (the Recycle Bin on Windows), where you can get it back.
• If you chose Leave It in the Folder, a file you change after it came in arrives again as a new file, so an edit is never lost.
• System files, and files that are still downloading, are left alone.
• While PrimeTask is closed or locked, files wait in the folder. They come in when you open or unlock PrimeTask.
• PrimeTask tells you when files arrive, and when one can't come in: with a message, or with a desktop notification when PrimeTask isn't in front.
• When many files arrive at once, or a big file takes a while, your File Inbox shows how far it has got, such as "Taking in 3 of 40 files". Stop turns the File Inbox off. The rest wait in the folder and come in when you turn it back on.

Files arriving through the watched folder still come in when they match another file, with a line saying where the first one is. Choose Keep both, or, while the first one is still in your File Inbox, Use the existing one to remove the extra item.

You can also drop files straight onto the File Inbox panel, including when you opened it from a task. They go into your File Inbox, ready to file later. These drops make stored copies even when your watched folder uses Keep It Here and Link to It. The files you dragged stay where they are.

For a panel drop, or Add to File Inbox from a task's drop window, PrimeTask checks whether the same files are already waiting, including files from another drop that's still being added. When it finds duplicates, a window names them and offers Skip duplicates or Keep both. No extra copies are added unless you choose Keep both. Any new files in the drop are added normally, and the window says how many. Only files waiting as copies in your File Inbox count: a linked file, or one you've already filed, doesn't.

Files from a Notion import

When you import tasks from Notion and choose Add to File Inbox, the files on each task's page come straight into your File Inbox. They don't pass through your File Inbox folder, so nothing appears in the folder or the Trash.

• Each file is labelled Import, Notion with the date of the import, and its task's name. Type a task's name in the search, or filter by a label, to find its files.
• When the import finishes, Open File Inbox shows that import's files.
• They follow the same rules as any file that arrives: only the kinds of file you allow, up to your Largest file. A file that's already waiting in your File Inbox comes in once.
• From here, file each one to its task, a project note or, on Pro, a client.

Keep it here and link to it

Choose Keep It Here and Link to It when your files should stay exactly where they are, for example a folder of client documents you already keep in order.

• Nothing is copied. Each file stays in your folder, and PrimeTask opens it from there.
• If you edit a linked file, PrimeTask follows the change. If you rename it, or move it within your File Inbox folder, PrimeTask follows it there too.
• When you switch to linking and the folder already holds files, PrimeTask asks whether to Link Every File already there, or only files that arrive from now on.
• Largest file doesn't limit linking.
• Attaching a linked file to a task or a client makes a copy in the Space, as attaching always does. A copy for a task can be up to your Largest file, and a copy for a client up to 100 MB.

Waiting, Pinned and Recent

Your File Inbox keeps three lists:

• Waiting - every file that has come in and hasn't been filed yet.
• Pinned - files you've pinned so they're easy to find again. Choose Pin file from a file's ⋯ menu, or select several and click Pin. Pinned files also stay first in Waiting, whatever the sort, until you file them or choose Unpin file.
• Recent - every file you've filed, newest first. Each one says whether it was attached or linked, where it went, in which Space, and when.

Go back to a file you filed

In Recent, click a file's destination to go there, or choose Go to from the file's ⋯ menu. PrimeTask switches to that Space if it needs to.

• Preview or Open file shows the copy you filed, as long as it's still on this computer.
• Search by file name or destination, and sort by newest or oldest.
• Filter by file type, the date it was filed, the Space, and the kind of destination. On Pro, you can also filter by how it was filed: Attached copies or Linked files.
• Going to a contact, company, opportunity or CRM task, or opening a file filed to one, requires Pro.

Recent comes from your filed history. Clearing that history in File Inbox Settings empties Recent too.

Find, preview and tidy up

• Search by file name, or by the name of the folder a file came from
• Sort by newest, oldest, name, size or type
• Filter by file type, the folder a file came from, the date it arrived, files already in PrimeTask, or files linked to records. Type in the box at the top of Filters to find one in a long list.
• Preview a PDF, picture, video or audio file by clicking its name. Other files open in the app that usually opens them.
• Step through your files from the preview, or with the ← and → keys, in the order of your list. A file with no preview says what it is, with Open outside. Click Select to choose the file showing, just as its tick box does, and the list shows you the file. Then file your choices together.
• See your pictures full size with Full view: every picture on the page, in a gallery you can move through, with Copy and Download. Choose pictures there too with Select, or press Space.
• Take a quick look by resting your mouse on a file's icon: a picture, the first page of a PDF, or a video or audio file you can play in the floating player while you carry on working. Click the picture or the PDF to open its preview.
• Open any file in the app that usually opens it
• Rename from a file's ⋯ menu. Edit its name before the extension, and the file type stays the same. Copies use that name when you attach or export them. For a linked file, only the name in your File Inbox changes, and the file in your folder keeps its name. Open, Pin and Delete are in the same menu.
• Select several to file, pin or delete them together. Hold Shift and click a file to select every file between it and the last one you selected, as in the task list. Select this page picks every file on the page, and Select all picks every file that matches your search and filters, on every page. With all of them selected, Attach to… opens the Attach window for the whole selection. A long job can be stopped with Stop after this batch, which leaves the rest as they were. Files that arrive after you select aren't included.
• Remove extra copies: filter for Only files already in PrimeTask, then choose Remove extra copies. PrimeTask tells you how many it will remove and asks first. It always keeps one copy of each file, and never removes files linked to CRM records, copies you chose to keep, or anything it can't check. Linked files in your folder are never deleted.
• Drag a file onto a task's Attachments section, onto a PrimeFlow canvas, or, on Pro, onto the Files of a contact, company, opportunity or activity, or anyone in the CRM Files record list
• Delete a file you don't need. PrimeTask's copy is deleted. If the original went to the Trash when it arrived, you can still get it back from there. If you left it in the folder, it stays there and won't come in again unless it changes. Deleting a linked file only stops PrimeTask listing it: the file stays in your folder.

File to a task

Attaching from your File Inbox to a task works on every PrimeTask license.

• Open the task and, in its Attachments section, click choose files from your File Inbox. Click Attach on a file, or drag it onto the Attachments section.
• From the task list, a board or a project's Tasks tab, open the task's Attachments panel, click From File Inbox, and click Attach on a file.
• To file to a task in another Space, use Attach from any page (see above) and choose the Space in the Attach window.

The file becomes an ordinary attachment on the task, in the task's Space, and leaves your File Inbox once the task is saved with it. If the task can't be saved, or you switch Spaces while it's being attached, the file stays in your File Inbox and PrimeTask tells you.

Dropping files on a task. Once your File Inbox is set up, files you drag from Finder or File Explorer onto a task give you a choice: Attach them to the task now, or Add to File Inbox to file them later. Files added to your File Inbox go into your File Inbox folder and come in like any other file, so nothing goes into a Space until you file it.

See Task Attachments for everything you can do with an attachment, and List View to show the Attachments column.

Add to a project note

In the note you're writing, open the Attach files menu, choose From File Inbox, and click Attach on a file. A note takes pictures, PDFs, Word and text files up to 10 MB each. PrimeTask names any other file you pick, and it stays in your File Inbox.

The file waits with your note, and stays in your File Inbox, until you click Send. Only then is it copied into the project and filed. If you take it off the note before sending, it never leaves your File Inbox. If a file can't be added when you send, PrimeTask names it and the note isn't sent, so nothing you've typed is lost.

Adding files from your File Inbox to a note works on every PrimeTask license. See Project Notes.

Add to a PrimeFlow canvas

Drag a file from your File Inbox onto a canvas, with no need to pin the File Inbox open first. The window that opens is the one you see when you drop a file from Finder or File Explorer:

• Attach copies the file into the canvas's Space, and its card appears where you dropped it. The file leaves your File Inbox, and Recent shows the canvas it went to, with Go to canvas.
• Link points the card at the file where it is in your folder, so the same file can sit on as many canvases as you like, and it stays in your File Inbox. Link is there for files your File Inbox keeps where they are (see Keep it here and link to it above), in a Space that stays on this computer. A file your File Inbox keeps its own copy of is attached.

The same files can go on a canvas as when you drop them from your computer. See File Linking.

Link or attach a file to a client (Pro feature)

Filing to contacts, companies, opportunities and activities is part of CRM Files, which requires Pro. To upgrade, see License Settings.

You have two choices for each file:

• Link - adds the file to the client without copying it. It stays in your File Inbox, and you can link it to other records too.
• Attach - adds a copy kept in the Space you're working in. The file then leaves your File Inbox.

Where to do it:

• On a client's page: in Files, click Add files, then From your File Inbox, and click Link or Attach on a file. Dragging a file onto Files attaches it.
• On the CRM Files page: click File Inbox. With a client chosen in the record list, Link and Attach file to that client. With none chosen, PrimeTask asks who the file belongs to. Dragging a file onto anyone in the record list, or onto Unfiled, attaches it.

Linked files. A linked file says where it's linked, such as "Linked to Aisha Patel and 2 more". Click that line to see every record it's linked to, click a record to go to it (an activity opens on its own page, see Activity Page), unlink it from any of them, or Link to... more. Unlinking it from its last record keeps it in your File Inbox, ready to link again. To see only linked files, filter by Linked to records.

• Deleting a linked file asks first, and removes it from those records too.
• Attaching a linked file gives the client a copy and leaves the linked file where it is.
• A linked file isn't copied into the Space, so it doesn't sync to your other computers. It opens on this computer, where your File Inbox is.

Big files. A file over your size limit stays in your folder. Opened from CRM Files or a client's page, your File Inbox offers Link to original for it, which links it to a client without copying it.

What may come in

Your File Inbox is protected from the start: only the kinds of file on your allowed list come in, and each one is checked to be what its name says.

• The list starts with documents, pictures, audio, video, email, contacts, calendars and ZIP files. Office files that can hold macros aren't on it until you add them.
• A password-protected Office file comes in and shows as Password-protected Office file, because PrimeTask can't look inside it.
• You can add or remove kinds of file, or let every kind in. See File Inbox Settings.

Whatever your settings, PrimeTask never runs a program or unpacks an archive from your File Inbox.

When a file can't come in

Your File Inbox says how many files couldn't come in, and why, in one line above the list. Click it to see each file, grouped by reason:

• Over your size limit - the file stays in your folder. Raise Largest file in File Inbox Settings and it comes in straight away, or, on Pro, link it to a client with Link to original.
• Not on your allowed list - the file stays in your folder. Add its type to your list if you trust it.
• Not what its name says - the file's contents don't match its name, so it stays in your folder.
• Damaged or unreadable - the file is moved to a folder called Could not import inside your File Inbox folder. Click Show File Inbox folder to find it. PrimeTask never takes anything from that folder.
• Open in another app - the file stays in the folder. Save it again and PrimeTask tries once more.
• Couldn't keep the "downloaded from the internet" mark - the file stays in the folder, and PrimeTask tries again the next time it opens.
• Apps and Mac packages, such as a photo library or a document saved as a folder - left whole in your folder.

Click Dismiss once you've dealt with one, or Dismiss all.

Backups and your File Inbox

Whole-app backups include your File Inbox, as long as the backup includes attachments. A backup of a single Space doesn't, because your File Inbox isn't in any Space. Restoring a whole-app backup brings its File Inbox back with everything else.

• Linked files are never in a backup. They stay in your folder, and restoring leaves them as they are.
• If the drive with your File Inbox's files isn't connected when a backup is made, the backup is made without them, and your list of backups says so.
• If a restore of your File Inbox can't finish at once, it finishes the next time PrimeTask opens. While it does, Finish Later lets PrimeTask open first. Until it's done, nothing new comes into your File Inbox.

Common questions

Where to go next