Files

Upload documents directly to your project in PDF, Word, Excel, and other formats.

tip

Uploaded files remain private—your chatbot won't expose file links as sources to users.

When to use file uploads

Use file uploads for:

• Internal documents (handbooks, policies, procedures)
• Offline content not published on the web
• Legacy formats (PDF manuals, Word documents, spreadsheets)
• Confidential content that needs to stay private

Supported formats

Format	Extensions	Description
PDF	.pdf	Portable Document Format files
Markdown	.md, .markdown	Markdown text files
Text	.txt	Plain text files
Word	.docx, .doc	Microsoft Word documents
Excel	.xlsx, .xls	Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
CSV	.csv	Comma-separated values files

Requirements

• Maximum file size: 10 MB per file
• Files must contain searchable text (not just images)
• Use descriptive file names

Upload files

1. Go to app.biel.ai
2. Select Projects > your project > Settings > Sources
3. Select Files
4. Choose upload method:
   • Drag files into the upload area
   • Click to browse and select files
5. Wait for upload to complete
6. Click Save

You can upload multiple files at once (up to 20 files simultaneously).

Manage uploaded files

View files:

Go to Projects > your project > Settings > Sources > Files

Update files:

1. Delete the old file (optional but recommended)
2. Upload new version with same name
3. Content gets re-indexed automatically

Remove files:

1. Go to Projects > your project > Settings > Sources > Files
2. Click delete button
3. Confirm removal

Best practices

• Use descriptive file names: employee-handbook-2024.pdf
• Include version numbers: policy-v2.1.pdf
• Ensure documents have searchable text (not scanned images)
• Use simple formatting for better text extraction
• Remove passwords before uploading

File type notes

• PDF files: Text-based PDFs work best; scanned PDFs have limited searchability
• Word documents: .docx files work better than legacy .doc files
• Excel spreadsheets: Each sheet is processed separately
• CSV files: Include clear column headers

Troubleshooting

Upload failures

• Check file size (under 10 MB)
• Verify file format is supported
• Try smaller batches (fewer files at once)

Content not indexing

• Wait 5-10 minutes for processing
• Ensure files contain searchable text
• Check file isn't corrupted

Poor results

• Use descriptive file names
• Ensure files have clear, readable text

Need help? Contact support at support@biel.ai if you experience issues with content processing or indexing takes too long.