Use Documents in TidyOne Personal to keep PDFs and photographs in an archive with built-in categories. Search by file name, issuer or document number. To ask about information inside a PDF, explicitly ask TidyOne AI and then check its answer against the original. These are two different search capabilities, and this guide explains when to use each one.
Why a searchable personal document archive is useful
Your laptop invoice is in an email inbox, your car insurance policy is attached to a message, a service contract is saved among dozens of downloads and a payment receipt is a photograph on your phone. When a seller asks for proof of purchase or you need to check a contract date, each location becomes a separate search. An organized archive does not mean digitizing years of paperwork in one afternoon. It means choosing a repeatable method that still works in six months.
In TidyOne Personal, Documents can store your files, assign one of the available categories, show AI suggestions, provide download and sharing options, and search selected metadata fields. TidyOne AI is a separate conversational tool: when explicitly asked about an uploaded document, it can find relevant candidates and may inspect a limited number of original files. Neither feature should be treated as certified verification of a legal deadline, medical instruction or financial statement.
Before you begin: choose the files and name them consistently
Start with three everyday groups: utility and purchase invoices, insurance and service contracts, and personal documents you might urgently need to retrieve. Keep the PDF received from the issuer whenever you have it. For paper documents, take a clear photograph that includes the whole page. Avoid severe glare, cropped page edges and blurred dates or document numbers. A readable original will save time later, especially when AI cannot interpret a low-quality image reliably.
Before uploading, adopt a file naming convention on your own device: YYYY-MM-DD_issuer_type_number.pdf. For example, 2026-09-15_ElectroNord_invoice_FN248.pdf or 2026-07-01_InsuranceCo_car_policy_2027.pdf. Good names help you find a file even when automated extraction is incomplete. Avoid including passwords, national identification numbers, complete bank card details or medical diagnoses in a filename. The version documented here does not promise an in-app rename feature; prepare names before upload.
Step 1 — Upload files in your Personal workspace
Check the workspace selector and switch to Personal. Open Documents, or use the app-wide Add action. Choose the file/PDF option for an existing original or the camera option for a paper document. Original PDFs are usually convenient for contracts and bills because the text remains more readable. A prompt photograph can help preserve the ink on a fading thermal receipt.
The Documents page accepts a batch of up to 15 image or PDF files at once. This upload count is not the same as your AI batch-analysis allowance: how many files AI can classify together depends on your plan, while monthly AI usage has its own quota. After a batch upload, wait for the files to appear before retrying. Repeatedly uploading after a temporary interruption can make it difficult to tell whether you already stored the file.
Do not add another person's documents without an appropriate reason and permission. For sensitive health or financial details, think about whether you need the full original online or whether a less sensitive record meets your purpose.
Step 2 — Use the actual category tabs
When an upload finishes, TidyOne offers ways to organize the files. Personal has these tabs: All, To classify, Bills & utilities, Insurance, Identity & documents, Medical, Contracts and Other. They are the built-in categories in the implementation reviewed for this guide. Do not assume you can create unlimited nested custom folders inside Documents.
| File | Built-in category | Useful search clue |
|---|---|---|
| Laptop purchase or energy bill | Bills & utilities | Issuer plus invoice number |
| Insurance policy | Insurance | Insurer and policy type |
| Copy of your own identity document | Identity & documents | Document type; avoid sensitive IDs in filenames |
| Phone subscription contract | Contracts | Provider and signature month |
| Medical letter you need to retain | Medical | Date and file type; restrict access |
| Something that does not fit | Other | An unambiguous file name |
For a batch, you can assign the same category to every file or, if available under your plan and quota, select Let TidyOne choose for each file. Inspect its suggestions before selecting Confirm categories. A manual choice is a valid organizational route when you do not need or cannot use AI. The category labels are for filing, not a guarantee that the contents have been checked.
Step 3 — Review AI suggestions and check financial impact
For one document, use Analyze with AI from its menu or viewer. If a proposed extraction needs confirmation, open the AI review screen. Compare the document type, category, issuer, reference number, dates, amount and currency where relevant with the original. AI may confuse the issue date with the due date, misread one digit, omit a page or infer a value from a blurry scan. This is why human review matters even for a document that looks straightforward.
If an invoice relates to a purchase already entered in Money / Transactions, choose No financial transaction when your intention is only to keep the evidence. Confirming an additional expense for the same purchase could duplicate spending and distort budgets. An insurance policy, identity document or contract can contain monetary figures without representing a new payment. Do not create a new financial entry simply because the file mentions an amount.
Step 4 — Retrieve a file without opening every card
Within Documents, select the likely category and use the search field labelled Search file, company or document number…. The current search checks the file name, issuer and document number. It does not continuously index every sentence inside every PDF. Naming a file InsuranceCo_car_policy_2027.pdf makes it findable even when the AI extraction did not capture the insurer correctly.
Try an exact invoice number, a fragment of the issuer name and a distinctive word in the file name. If no results appear, switch back to All and clear additional filters before assuming the upload failed. The page retrieves 25 documents per page, ordered by upload time with the newest first. If you maintain hundreds of files, remember to use pagination rather than looking only at the first screen.
Step 5 — Use category and AI-state filters together
Not analyzed by AI and AI analyzed are useful when several documents arrived at once. Start with To classify to identify files awaiting an organizational choice. Then return to All and check their AI-analysis state separately. A file in the right category may still contain unverified or incorrect extracted fields. Conversely, a file does not need an AI analysis just to remain stored in the correct category.
The interface also displays Not sent and Sent filters. In a personal archive, treat these as internal organization states, not proof that an external recipient received the file. Especially with identity, insurance and medical documents, do not mark something sent simply because you opened a sharing menu or copied a link.
Step 6 — Open, zoom, download and protect the original
Click a document card to open its viewer. You can move between files in the current view, zoom an image or PDF and select Download when a local copy is needed. The three-dot card menu offers actions such as open, download, share, analyze with AI where applicable, and delete; image files can also offer cropping. Check that the correct document is open before using an action on it.
Cropping a picture may improve readability, but it does not correct the legal or financial content of the original. Keep an untouched copy if the file may be needed for a warranty claim, contract dispute or proof of payment. Before deleting something from the app, consider whether it is the only available copy and whether you have another independent copy you can actually retrieve.
Step 7 — Ask AI Coach about content inside a document
Open TidyOne AI and write a specific document question. Examples: “What expiry date is written in my InsuranceCo car policy from July 2026?” or “What is the final amount on invoice FN248 from ElectroNord?”. A recognizable issuer, number, date or filename helps the system find the correct file. A vague question such as “What does the contract say?” may match multiple unrelated contracts and leave the system unable to verify your requested detail.
AI Coach starts with document metadata. It can include up to five ranked candidate summaries in its context and may attach no more than two original files to one question if they are available and meet the technical limits. A large, unsupported or temporarily inaccessible file may be skipped. Answers should not be treated as exhaustive review of your entire archive; the system may see metadata for several candidates while inspecting only one or two original files.
Only ask about uploaded documents when you accept that a relevant original may be transmitted to the AI provider for that explicit request. If you merely need the file, ordinary metadata search in Documents is often enough and avoids invoking this separate document-question workflow. Protect other people's sensitive data and do not paste unrelated private identifiers into a question.
Worked example: finding one invoice among 60 files
Fictional example: you have 60 personal documents uploaded over one year. In September 2026 you purchase a laptop for RON 3,499. ElectroNord emails invoice FN248 and supplies a separate warranty certificate. Before uploading, you name the files 2026-09-15_ElectroNord_invoice_FN248.pdf and 2026-09-15_ElectroNord_laptop_warranty.pdf. You do not put a national identifier or banking details into either file name.
| Action | In TidyOne | Verify |
|---|---|---|
| Upload both originals | Documents → Choose file/PDF | Both appear in your archive. |
| Assign categories | Bills & utilities and Other as appropriate | A certificate is not automatically an expense. |
| Review the invoice | Analyze with AI → inspect proposal | FN248, RON 3,499 and the original date. |
| Retrieve it later | Search “FN248” or “ElectroNord” | Filters do not hide the file. |
| Ask a content question | “What amount is on invoice FN248?” | Check the cited filename and reopen the PDF. |
If you already entered the RON 3,499 card purchase in Money, store the invoice using No financial transaction during AI confirmation. Retain the certificate as a separate supporting file. For a later warranty enquiry, download only the files actually requested by the seller and check the recipient before sending anything.
A ten-minute weekly maintenance checklist
Troubleshooting: common problems and fixes
| What happens | Possible explanation | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No documents match the filters | A category or status filter is hiding the result. | Return to All, clear filters, then search using part of the filename. |
| A phrase inside the PDF is not found | The archive search is not full-text PDF search. | Try name/issuer/number, or ask a specific document question in AI Coach. |
| AI cannot identify the right file | The question is vague or metadata is incomplete. | Include issuer, document number, month or exact filename. |
| AI cannot inspect the original | File size, format or temporary storage access. | Open the original yourself and check readability before retrying. |
| A photo and PDF count as two expenses | Both were confirmed as financial records. | Compare Money transactions with the real payment and correct the duplicate. |
| A shared link stopped working | Temporary access or an incompatible recipient app. | Download the authorized file and send it as a proper attachment. |
Privacy, plan limits and independent copies
Personal files often contain addresses, signatures, financial details and sometimes health information. Check whether a recipient actually needs the full document; where appropriate, share a redacted copy while keeping the complete original separately. Sharing may use your phone's native sharing system or temporary links depending on the device and app. A temporary link is not permission to publish an identity document or medical file in an open group.
TidyOne plans set limits for document count, storage and AI usage. Check Plan & Usage for the limits currently associated with your account. Uploading a file, analyzing it and asking AI Coach about it are distinct operations that can consume different allowances. This guide does not promise an unconditional permanent archive, a guaranteed full automated backup or recovery of deleted originals. Keep your own independent copies of documents that would be difficult or impossible to replace.
Frequently asked questions
Can I create a custom subfolder for every provider?
This guide covers the built-in Personal categories shown in the current interface. Use consistent file names and the search field for additional organization; do not assume arbitrary nested custom folders are available.
Does Documents search inside the full text of every PDF?
No. The current search filters filename, issuer and document number. AI Coach may inspect a limited number of relevant files when you explicitly ask a question about your documents.
Can I upload many files without AI?
Yes. Upload them and assign a category manually. Document count and storage limits still apply, but a manual category choice does not require AI analysis of every file.
Must every invoice become an expense?
No. You might be archiving evidence of a payment already entered in Money or a document without a new financial event. Choose No financial transaction during AI review when appropriate.
Does AI Coach read all my documents every time?
No. It ranks relevant candidates from the question and may attach up to two original files that are accessible and within technical limits. Its answer is not an audit of your full archive.
Can I share an invoice from the app?
Sharing options are available, but real file attachment support depends on your device and chosen recipient app. If needed, download the file and attach it manually, then confirm delivery with the recipient.
Continue with these Personal guides
Prepare their names, upload them into Personal, confirm their categories and try searching for one by its number. If you need a detail inside a PDF, ask AI a precise question and check the answer against the original.