Navigate and Manage Folders
The Folders view in August provides a unified interface for browsing, organizing, and acting on your documents and folders. Use it to navigate nested folder structures, search within folders, sort and filter content, and perform actions like rename, move, copy, delete, share, and send to Assistant or Tabular Review.
Creating Folders
Create folders at the project root or within existing folders to build a structured document organization that matches your matter workflow. You need upload access to the current location; if you only have view access, Create New is disabled.
Create at Project Root
Top-level folders appear at the root of your project's folder structure. Use these for primary organizational categories such as client matters, document types, or workflow stages.
Open the project's Folders view.
Click Create New.
Enter a descriptive folder name.
Confirm to create the folder at the project root level.
Create Nested Folders
Build deeper organization by creating subfolders within existing folders:
Open an existing folder.
Click Create New.
Enter a name for the subfolder.
Confirm to create the nested structure.
Plan your folder structure before creating it. A flat list of top-level folders with relevant subfolders is easier to navigate than deeply nested hierarchies.
Browsing Folders and Files
The Folders view displays folders and files together in a single, scrollable list. This mixed listing lets you see your entire document structure at a glance, whether you're at the project root or deep within a nested folder hierarchy.
Breadcrumb Navigation
Use breadcrumbs at the top of the Folders view to understand your current location and quickly navigate to parent folders. Click any breadcrumb segment to jump directly to that folder level.
Breadcrumbs remain visible as you scroll, so you always know where you are in the folder hierarchy.
Navigating into Folders
Click any folder row to open that folder and view its contents.
Middle-click, or hold Cmd (Mac), Ctrl (Windows), or Shift while clicking, to open a folder in a new browser tab.
Click any file row to open the file viewer and preview the document.
The entire row is clickable for navigation, so you don't need to target the folder or file name specifically.
Searching Within Folders
Use the search bar in the Folders view to find documents and folders by name. Press Cmd+F (Mac) or Ctrl+F (Windows) to jump to it. Search behavior adapts to your current scope:
When viewing the project root, search covers the entire project.
When viewing a nested folder, search is scoped to that folder and its subfolders.
Search results display matching folders first, followed by matching files. Folders appear with a folder icon; files show their document type icon.
Type your search term and results appear automatically after a brief delay. Clear the search to return to the full folder listing.
Sorting and Filtering
Organize your view by sorting and filtering the folder contents list.
Sort Options
Click column headers to sort the list. Available sort options:
Sort By | Description |
|---|---|
Name | Alphabetical by folder or file name |
Updated | Most recently modified items first |
File Type | Grouped by document format (DOCX, PDF, etc.) |
Size | Largest files first |
Click the same header again to reverse the sort order.
Filter by Tags
Use the tag filter dropdown to show only items with specific tags applied. Select one or more tags to narrow the view, or clear the filter to see all items.
Tags are visible as chips in the Tags column. If an item has more tags than fit in the row, click the overflow indicator to see all tags.
Row Actions
Every row in the Folders view provides quick access to common actions. You can act on individual items in two ways:
Right-click context menu: Right-click any folder or file row to open a context menu with available actions.
Actions menu: Click the trailing actions icon (kebab menu) on any row to access the same actions.
Available Actions
The actions available depend on whether you're acting on a folder or a file. If you only have view access, actions that change content are disabled.
Action | Folders | Files | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Rename | Yes | Yes | Change the folder or file name. You can also rename documents directly from the viewer header. |
Move | Yes | Yes | Move to another folder, or (folders only) to a project root or another project |
Copy | Yes | Yes | Copy to another folder, or (folders only) to a project root or another project |
Delete | Yes | Yes | Remove the folder or file and exclude it from search and AI retrieval. For a folder shared with you, this removes it from your folders only. |
Share | Yes | No | Share the folder with colleagues. Files inherit access from their folder, so you share files by sharing the folder that contains them. |
Send to > Assistant | Yes | Yes | Open in Assistant for analysis |
Send to > Tabular Review | Yes | Yes | Add the items to an existing Tabular Review, or click Create New Review |
Download | Yes | Yes | Download a folder as a ZIP, or an individual file |
Tags | No | Yes | Manage the file's tags, when tagging is enabled for your firm |
Enter password | No | Yes | Unlock a password-protected file marked Password required so we can process it |
Deleting a folder: When you delete a folder, all documents inside it are removed from your view and excluded from search and Assistant retrieval. This includes all nested subfolders and their contents. The deletion cascades through the entire folder structure in the background.
Bulk Actions with Selection
Select multiple items to perform actions on several folders or files at once.
Click the checkbox at the left of any row to select it.
Select additional rows to build your selection set.
Use the selection bar that appears to choose a bulk action: Copy, Move, Download, Send to, or Delete. Share appears only when every selected item is a folder.
The selection bar shows the count of selected items and provides the same core actions available for individual items, applied in bulk. Downloading several files at once gives you a single ZIP.
Uploading Documents
Add documents to folders using drag-and-drop or the upload button.
Drag and Drop
Drag files from your computer into the Folders view to upload them to the current folder.
Drag folders to upload entire folder structures, preserving the nested hierarchy.
When you drop files or folders, upload rows appear immediately in the list. These optimistic rows show the upload in progress. Once the upload completes and the file is ready, the row updates to show the finalized document.
Upload Button
Use the upload button in the Folders view toolbar to open a file picker. Select files to upload them to the current folder.
Root folder uploads: Files dropped at the project root level (outside any folder) will show an error. Upload files into a specific folder, not at the project root.
Moving and Copying Items
Use Move or Copy to reorganize your document structure, within a project or across projects.
Move relocates the item to a new location and removes it from the original location.
Copy creates a duplicate in the new location while preserving the original.
Select the items.
Choose Move or Copy from the actions menu or selection bar.
Choose the destination project.
Pick a destination folder, or check Move to Home (or Copy to Home) to place folders at the project root.
Confirm.
Some destinations are limited:
Files must live inside a folder, so you can't move or copy files to a project root.
Only folders can be moved or copied to another project. To move files to another project, move the folder that contains them.
You can't move or copy a folder into itself.
Deleting and Removing Items
The workspace distinguishes between items you own and folders that have been shared with you. Delete behaves differently for each.
Delete Owned Items
When you own a file or folder, the delete action permanently removes it:
Select one or more owned items from the folders view.
Choose Delete.
Confirm the deletion in the dialog.
Deletion is permanent. Deleted items cannot be recovered from August. Ensure you have external backups for critical documents before deleting.
Remove Folders Shared with You
When a folder has been shared with you, Delete removes it from your folders without deleting it for the owner or other collaborators:
Select one or more shared folders from the folders view.
Choose Delete.
Confirm the removal in the dialog.
The folders disappear from your folders view but remain accessible to the original owner and other collaborators with whom they were shared.
Impact on Collaborators
Actions on shared items affect other users:
Moving shared folders: Changes the location for everyone with access. Others will find the items in their new location.
Deleting a folder you own and have shared: Removes access for all collaborators.
Removing a folder shared with you: Only affects your view. Other collaborators retain access.
When performing actions on shared folders or files, the dialog displays warnings if the operation will affect collaborators' access or folder locations.
What Happens After Delete or Move
When you delete or move documents and folders, August updates search and AI retrieval to reflect those changes automatically.
After Deleting
The document or folder disappears from your view immediately.
Deleted content is excluded from Platform Search and Assistant retrieval within seconds.
Deleting a folder removes all documents inside it from search and AI context.
Background sync: The UI reflects your delete action immediately. Search indexes and AI retrieval update in the background, typically completing within seconds. During this brief sync period, deleted content may still appear in search results.
After Moving
The document appears in its new location immediately.
Folder-scoped search follows the new location within seconds.
Assistant queries scoped to the new folder will find the moved document after the background sync completes.
Shared Folders
Folders shared with you or shared by you display a shared icon badge in the list. This badge indicates the folder's sharing status at a glance.
To remove a folder shared with you from your view, choose Delete from the context menu. This removes the folder from your navigation without affecting other users who have access.
Tags and Organization
Tags help you categorize and find documents. View tags in the Tags column, where each tag appears as a colored chip.
Managing Tags
Click any tag chip to open the Manage Tags dialog for that file.
Click the overflow indicator (+N) to see all tags and access the Manage Tags dialog.
Auto-Tagging
When auto-tagging or organizing jobs run, tags update in real time. The Folders view refreshes automatically as tags are applied, so you don't need to manually reload the page.
What to Read Next
Document Management Overview for the overall project and folder structure
Assistant Overview for analyzing documents and folders in Assistant
Tabular Review Overview for creating structured reviews from folder contents
Rename a document from the viewer for renaming documents inline from the viewer header
Platform Search for searching across all projects and content types