Search in the documents overview
- Open a workspace.
- Use the search field at the top of the app. The browser's find-in-page function is not a document search.
- Open a hit by clicking its name.
The search applies to the open workspace, not to the whole organization. Filters and views are under Options on the same overview. The web app, the desktop app and the mobile app search the same documents; only the navigation differs.
When the search returns nothing
An empty search usually has a simple cause. Check in this order:
- The workspace: switch to the workspace that received the upload or import.
- Processing: the content can only be found once processing has finished. Large imports take longer.
- Filters: a filter or grouping under Options can hide hits. Reset the filter and search again.
- The AI-DMS tier: a workspace with Storage only does not run text recognition, so its content cannot be searched.
- Permissions: in a shared workspace, you only see what your account may see.
Help: After import and AI-DMS tiers: Basic, Premium and Ultra.
Ask questions about your documents
In the PaperOffice Agent, you ask questions about your documents in your own words, for example: “What notice periods do my contracts have?” The agent answers and lists the documents it used as sources. Clicking a source opens the document.
- Open Documents and select one or more documents.
- Choose Actions → Agents & workflows → Ask Agent, or open the agent with Alt+A.
- In the Sources area, check what the agent will search. Use Add document or Add workspace to widen the selection.
- Ask your question and click a source in the answer to jump to the document.
Inside a document folder, the Chat with folder button asks questions about the documents in that folder.
- The agent answers only from processed documents in workspaces you have access to. Workspaces that are not indexed cannot be selected.
- If no workspace is pinned, the agent searches all workspaces you can access.
- You can pin up to 20 documents and 20 workspaces as sources.
- Questions to the agent are paid.
- You can also ask about your documents from Claude or ChatGPT through the PaperOffice MCP server.
Work together: notes, tasks and mentions
You record directly on the document what needs to happen. A note is a remark. A task has an assignee, a deadline and a priority.
- Open the document and go to the Activities tab.
- Click New and choose Note or Task.
- For a task, set Who must complete this?: yourself, a user, a group or nobody yet. Set the deadline and priority, and save.
- To ask a question, write in the task under Questions and comments. Use @ to mention a person or group.
- When the task is done, click Complete task. You can add a completion comment.
People you mention are notified. Without a mention, the assignees and participants are informed. Use the filters All, Notes, Tasks and Action Required to keep track. Comment threads that can be marked as resolved are available through the API and the MCP server.
Keep track: activity, workspace briefing and Problem Solver
- Under Analytics AI → Activity & Processing, the activity heatmap shows uploads per day, and the user activity shows who uploaded what in a chosen period. With Export, you save both as CSV. Analytics AI is available from the Corporate plan, and you only see it if your role allows it.
- The workspace briefing summarizes a workspace: document count, topics, frequent entities, partners and recent documents. It is available through the API and the MCP server, not as a page in the app. Requests are paid.
- The Problem Solver suggests functions that fit your need. Open it in the account menu under Help & Learning → Problem Solver and describe your need in your own words. It is also available on paperoffice.ai without signing in.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the search cover all workspaces? No. The search in the toolbar applies to the open workspace. The PaperOffice Agent can search several or all workspaces you can access.
- Why can't I find a document I just uploaded? Processing is probably still running. Wait until it has finished.
- Does the agent invent answers? It answers from your processed documents and shows the documents it used, so you can check every answer.
- Can colleagues see my tasks? Tasks belong to the document. Assignees, participants and mentioned people are informed.