The Documents tab is a full file manager for everything on your device. It is where downloads land, where you organize what you share, and where you zip files, scan documents and connect folders from elsewhere on your device.

At the top of the Documents tab is a switcher with three modes - Documents, Photos and Music. This page covers the Documents mode (your files and folders). Photos and Music are covered in Photos, Music & Video.

Browse your files

• Switch between list and grid (icons) view.
• Sort by name, date or size.
• Every file shows a thumbnail where possible - photos, video frames, PDF first pages, music artwork and text previews.

The Documents folder is shared by default when you turn on sharing, so anything you keep here is easy to hand to other devices.

Everyday file actions

Open the more-actions (•••) menu at the top of a folder, or the menu next to a single file, to work with your files:

• New Folder - create a folder to organize your files.
• Rename - change a file or folder name.
• Move - relocate items to another folder.
• Copy - duplicate items into another folder.
• Upload - send items to a device you are connected to on the Devices tab.
• Open In - hand a file to another app through the system share sheet.
• Delete - remove items. By default deleted items go to a recoverable trash; you can turn on immediate deletion in Settings (see Access & Privacy).
• Info - open the file info screen (see below).

Zip and unzip (archive and unarchive)

Everdisk has archiving built in - no extra app needed.

• Create a zip: select one item, or several items, then choose Archive. A single item is zipped on its own; several items are bundled into one Archive.zip.
• Unzip: tap a .zip or .rar file and Everdisk extracts it into the current folder.

Zipping and extracting show a progress bar you can cancel. When the new folder or archive is ready, Everdisk scrolls to it and highlights it briefly.

Connect external folders

You can work with folders that live elsewhere on your device, not just the app’s own Documents folder.

1. In the Documents folder, open the ••• menu and choose Connect Folder.
2. Pick a folder anywhere on your device.
3. It appears at the top of the Documents tab with a Connected label.

Connected folders are read-write and can be shared over the network like any other folder. To remove one, open its Info and choose Disconnect - this only unlinks it; the folder and its files stay on your device.

Scan documents to PDF

Everdisk can turn paper documents into clean PDFs using your camera.

1. In the Documents tab, open the ••• menu and choose Scan Documents.
2. Point the camera at a page. Everdisk finds the edges automatically, straightens the page, and lets you capture more pages.
3. When you finish, all the pages are saved together as a single multi-page PDF in the current folder.

Scanning needs a device with a real camera. You can then share the PDF over the network, or send it to another app with Open In.

PDF tools

Everdisk includes a built-in PDF Tools suite for working with PDF files. Open any PDF’s more-actions (•••) menu - or its Info screen - in the Documents tab and tap PDF Tools. The screen shows the PDF’s thumbnail and page count, and groups the tools into three areas. If the PDF is password-protected, Everdisk asks for its password first. PDF Tools are free.

Optimize

• Compress - make the PDF smaller. Everdisk shows the current size and an estimated result size for each option. Standard keeps the text selectable and only re-compresses images; High, Medium, Small and Smallest re-render the pages as images at a lower resolution (best for scans and photos, but the text is no longer selectable).
• Text Recognition (OCR) - recognize the text in the PDF. Choose Searchable PDF to add a hidden text layer so the document can be searched and its text selected (the pages look identical), or Text File (.txt) to save just the recognized text next to the PDF.
• Flatten - burn annotations and form-field entries into the page so they can no longer be edited. This also finalizes signatures, highlights and stamps.

Security

• Password - set, change or remove the password required to open the PDF. Removing or changing it requires the current password.
• Permissions - review what the PDF allows, such as copying, printing, commenting and form entry. This is a read-only view; use the Password tool to protect the file.

Metadata

• Edit Metadata - change or clear the PDF’s title, author, subject, creator, producer and keywords, or remove all metadata at once. Creation and modification dates are shown for reference.

Mark up and sign PDFs and photos

To annotate a PDF (or a photo), just tap it in the Documents tab to open it in the built-in viewer, then open the Markup tools. You can draw, highlight, add text and shapes, and add a signature with your finger, and your changes are saved back to the file. If you later want to lock those marks so they can’t be edited, run PDF Tools → Flatten on the file.

Select several items at once

Turn on selection mode (Select) to act on many items together. Checkboxes appear next to each item, and a bar at the bottom offers Move, Copy, Upload, Archive, Open In and Delete for everything you selected. Use Select All or Deselect All to speed things up.

File info

The Info screen for any file shows:

• A preview.
• The full location (path) on your device.
• Size, created and modified dates, and detailed media attributes.
• For photos and videos with location data, a map with a pin and an Open in Maps button.
• A Share button.

Next steps

• Sharing - share these files with other devices.
• Photos, Music & Video - the Photos and Music modes and playback.
• Settings - trash vs. permanent delete, thumbnail cache.