documentation/content/applications/productivity/documents.md

Documents

Odoo Documents allows you to store, view, and manage files within Odoo.

:::{seealso}

• Odoo Documents: product page
• Odoo Tutorials: Documents basics [video]
• Odoo Tutorials: Using Documents with your Accounting App [video] :::

Configuration

By going to {menuselection}Documents --> Configuration --> Settings, you can enable the centralization of files attached to a specific area of your activity. For example, by ticking {guilabel}Human Resources, your HR documents are automatically available in the HR workspace, while documents related to Payroll are automatically available in the Payroll sub-workspace. You can change the default workspace using the dropdown menu and edit its properties by clicking the {icon}fa-arrow-right ({guilabel}Internal link) icon.

:alt: Enable the centralization of files attached to a specific area of your activity.

:::{note}

• If you enable the centralization of your accounting files and documents, it is necessary to click on {guilabel}Journals and define each journal independently to allow automatic synchronization.

  :alt: Enable the centralization of files attached to your accounting.
  

• If you select a new workspace, existing documents are not moved. Only newly created documents will be found under the new workspace. :::

(documents-workspaces)=

Workspaces

Workspaces are hierarchical folders having their own set of {ref}tags <documents/tags> and {ref}actions <documents/workflow-actions>. Default workspaces exist, but you can create your own by going to {menuselection}Documents --> Configuration --> Workspaces and clicking {guilabel}New. On the new page, fill in the following information:

• {guilabel}Name
• {guilabel}Parent Workspace: if you want to create a sub-workspace, select its {guilabel}Parent Workspace.

Three tabs are available: {ref}Tags <documents/tags>, {ref}Access Rights <documents/access-rights>, and {ref}Description <documents/description>.

(documents-tags)=

Tags

Tags are used within workspaces to add a level of differentiation between documents. They are organized per category, and filters can be used to sort them.

From the {guilabel}Tags tab, click {guilabel}Add a line, create the {guilabel}Tag Category, and {guilabel}Name your tags.

:::{note}

• The tags of a parent workspace apply to the child workspaces automatically;
• Tags can be created and modified by going to {menuselection}Documents --> Configuration --> Tags;
• Tags can also be created or edited by clicking the {icon}fa-gear ({guilabel}gear) icon on the left panel;
• An {ref}email alias <documents/upload> can be used to automatically send received documents to a specific workspace based on the tag assigned. :::

(documents-access-rights)=

Access rights

To manage your workspace access rights, go to the {guilabel}Access Rights tab. You can add {guilabel}Write Groups that can view, create, and edit the workspace's documents. You can also add {guilabel}Read Groups that only view the workspace's documents.

:::{tip} Enable {guilabel}Own Documents Only to limit {guilabel}Read Groups and {guilabel}Write Groups to the documents of which they are owner. :::

(documents-description)=

Description

You can add descriptive information to your workspace by going to the {guilabel}Description tab.

:::{note} Workspaces can also be created and edited by clicking the {icon}fa-gear ({guilabel}gear) icon on the left panel. :::

(documents-management)=

Documents management

When selecting or opening a document, the right panel displays different options, including, for example:

• {icon}fa-download ({guilabel}Download);
• {icon}fa-share-alt ({guilabel}Share this selection): a share URL is copied to your clipboard;
• {icon}fa-retweet ({guilabel}Replace): select a new file to replace the existing one. Scroll down to the bottom of the right panel to see the {guilabel}History and {guilabel}restore, {guilabel}download, or {guilabel}delete the document;
• {icon}fa-unlock ({guilabel}Lock);
• {icon}fa-scissors ({ref}Split <documents/split>);
• {icon}fa-comments ({guilabel}Open chatter).

To modify the name of your file, edit the {guilabel}Name field. Click the {icon}fa-trash ({guilabel}Move to trash) icon to delete your document.

:::{note} Items moved to the trash are kept for 30 days in the {icon}fa-trash {guilabel}Trash workspace, after which they are permanently deleted. :::

A {guilabel}Contact or an {guilabel}Owner can be assigned. You can also modify the related {guilabel}Workspace and add {guilabel}Tags.

:::{note}

• The {guilabel}Contact is a person related to the document who only has read {ref}access rights <documents/access-rights> to the document, e.g., an existing supplier in your database;
• The creator of a document is automatically assigned as its {guilabel}Owner and is granted full access rights to it. To replace the owner of a document, select the required user from the dropdown list in the {guilabel}Owner field. :::

:::{tip} An employee must be a user and the owner of a document to view it in My Profile. :::

Different {ref}Actions <documents/workflow-actions> are available at the bottom of the right panel, depending on the workspace where your document is stored.

(documents-split)=

Split PDF documents

Select the PDF you want to split, and click the {icon}fa-scissors ({guilabel}scissors) icon. A new view displays all the pages of the document.

By default, all pages are split when you click {guilabel}Split. To remove a split between two pages, click the {icon}fa-scissors ({guilabel}scissors) icon.

:alt: split your documents

:::{tip} To merge documents from your dashboard, select them and click the {icon}fa-scissors ({guilabel}scissors) icon. Click on the scissors between the two documents and click {guilabel}Split to merge the documents. :::

Additional features

Select a workspace and click the {guilabel}New button to access additional features:

Upload

You can upload any file (max 64MB per file on Odoo Online) to your Documents app. Select the workspace where you want to upload your file, click the {guilabel}New button, then {icon}fa-upload {guilabel}Upload.

Request

You can request files and organize them as documents to remind users to download them.

Select the workspace where the file should be stored, click the {guilabel}New button, then {icon}fa-paper-plane-o {guilabel}Request. Add the {guilabel}Document Name and select the person you need it from in the {guilabel}Request To field. You can also fill in the {guilabel}Due Date In, confirm the {guilabel}Workspace the document should belong to, and add {guilabel}Tags and a {guilabel}Message. Then, click {guilabel}Request. A placeholder for the missing document is created in the workspace.

When your document is available, click the placeholder to upload it.

You can see all missing documents by going to the Activity view and the {guilabel}Requested Document column.

:::{tip} From the {guilabel}Activity view, you can send a reminder email to users from whom you are expecting a document. Go to the {guilabel}Requested Document column and click the {icon}fa-ellipsis-v ({guilabel}ellipsis) icon, and {guilabel}Document Request: Reminder. Click on a date to see the details of a specific request. You can update it by clicking on the {icon}fa-pencil ({guilabel}pen) icon, {guilabel}Preview the content of the reminder email, or {guilabel}Send Now to send a reminder email.

:alt: send a reminder email from the Activity view

:::

(documents-add-a-link)=

Link

To add a link to your documents dashboard, click {icon}fa-link {guilabel}Link, enter the {guilabel}URL, and {guilabel}Name it.

(documents-documents-spreadsheet)=

Spreadsheet

To create a new {doc}spreadsheet <spreadsheet>, select the workspace where the file should be stored, click the {guilabel}New button, then {guilabel}Spreadsheet. You can create a {guilabel}Blank spreadsheet or select an {doc}existing template <spreadsheet/templates> to use.

Share

You can make a document or a workspace accessible to anyone by sharing a URL.

Share a document

To generate a share link to a document, select the document and click the {guilabel}Share button.

In the pop-up, you can {guilabel}Name the share link, set a validity date by filling in the {guilabel}Valid Until field, and if you own more than one site, select the {guilabel}Website you want so the right domain name is reflected in the URL.

Click {guilabel}Copy Link & Close to copy the URL to your clipboard.

:::{tip} You can also generate a share URL by selecting the document, going to the right panel, and clicking the {icon}fa-share-alt ({guilabel}Share this selection) icon. :::

Share a workspace

You can share a link to a workspace and allow users to {guilabel}Download its content or {guilabel}Download and Upload files to it.

To do so, go to the left column of your dashboard and select the workspace you want to share. You can also choose one or more tags that will be automatically added to the uploaded documents. Then, click the {guilabel}Share button.

In the pop-up, a share {guilabel}URL you can {guilabel}Copy is displayed. You can {guilabel}Name your share link and set a validity date by filling in the {guilabel}Valid Until field. If you own more than one site, select the {guilabel}Website you want so the share link reflects the right domain name.

:::{Note}

• The links added to your workspace using the {ref}Link <documents/add-a-link> option cannot be shared and are, therefore, excluded.
• When tags are applied to a shared workspace, users can exclusively access the documents associated with those tags. :::

(documents-upload)=

Files upload

Toggle the {guilabel}Allow upload switch to allow users to upload files to your workspace.

Tick the {guilabel}Upload by Email checkbox to enable users to upload documents sent by email in the workspace.

Enter an alias in the {guilabel}Email Alias field. All documents sent to this email address are uploaded to the workspace using the chosen tags.

:::{note}

• You need to have an alias domain set to be able to upload documents by email. If it isn't existing yet, click {guilabel}Choose or Configure Email Servers and create an {ref}alias domain <email-outbound-alias-domain>.
• By default, the {guilabel}Document Owner is the person who uploads a file to a workspace, but you can select another user. You can also set a {guilabel}Contact, usually an external person, such as a partner.
• Enable {guilabel}Create a new activity to automatically create an activity when a document is uploaded. Select the {guilabel}Activity type from the dropdown list and set the {guilabel}Due Date In field. You can also add a {guilabel}Summary and a {guilabel}Responsible person assigned to the activity. :::

:::{tip} Go to {menuselection}Configuration --> Share & Emails to see and manage your share links. Select a line and click {guilabel}Delete to disable the URL. People who have received this link will no longer be able to access the document(s) or workspace. :::

(documents-workflow-actions)=

Workflow actions

Workflow actions help manage documents and overall business operations. These are automated actions that can be created and customized for each workspace. With a single click you can, for example, create, move, sign, add tags to a document, and process bills.

When a document meets the set criteria, these workflow actions appear on the right panel.

Create workflow actions

To update an existing workflow action or create a new one, go to {menuselection}Documents --> Configuration --> Actions and click {guilabel}New.

:::{note} An action applies to all sub-workspaces under the {guilabel}Related Workspace you selected. :::

Set the conditions

Define the {guilabel}Action Name and then set the conditions that trigger the appearance of the action button on the right-side panel when selecting a file.

There are three basic types of conditions you can set:

1. {guilabel}Tags: you can use the {guilabel}Contains and {guilabel}Does not contain conditions, meaning the files must have or must not have the tags set here;
2. {guilabel}Contact: the files must be associated with the contact set here;
3. {guilabel}Owner: the files must be associated with the owner set here.

:alt: Example of a workflow action's basic condition in Odoo Documents

:::{tip} If you do not set any conditions, the action button appears for all files inside the selected workspace. :::

Advanced condition type: domain

:::{important} It is recommended to have some knowledge of Odoo development to configure Domain filters properly. :::

The {ref}developer mode <developer-mode> needs to be activated to enable the {guilabel}Domain {guilabel}Condition type. Once done, click {guilabel}New Rule.

To create a rule, you typically select a {guilabel}field, an {guilabel}operator, and a {guilabel}value. For example, if you want to add a workflow action to all the PDF files inside a workspace, set the {guilabel}field to Mime Type, the {guilabel}operator to contains, and the pdf {guilabel}value.

:alt: Example of a workflow action's domain condition in Odoo Documents

Click the {icon}fa-plus ({guilabel}Add New Rule) icon and the {icon}fa-sitemap ({guilabel}Add branch) icon to add conditions and sub-conditions. You can then specify if your rule should match {guilabel}all or {guilabel}any conditions. You can also edit the rule directly using the {guilabel}Code editor.

Configure the actions

Go to the {guilabel}Actions section to set up your action. You can simultaneously:

• Move to Workspace: move the file to any workspace;

• Create: create one of the following items attached to the file in your database:

  • Link to record: create a link between a document and a record from a specific model;
  • Product template: create a product you can edit directly;
  • Task: create a Project task you can edit directly;
  • Signature PDF template: create a new Sign template to send out;
  • PDF to sign: create a Sign template to sign directly;
  • Applicant: create a new HR application you can edit directly;
  • Vendor bill: create a vendor bill using OCR and AI to scrape information from the file content;
  • Customer invoice: create an invoice using OCR and AI to scrape information from the file;
  • Vendor credit note: create a vendor credit note using OCR and AI to scrape information from the file;
  • Credit note: create a customer credit note using OCR and AI to scrape information from the file;
  • Miscellaneous Operations: create an entry in the Miscellaneous Operations journal;
  • Bank Statement: import a bank statement;
  • Purchase Receipt: create a vendor receipt;
  • Expense: create an HR expense.

• Set Contact: add a contact to the file, or replace an existing contact with a new one;

• Set Owner: add an owner to the file, or replace an existing owner with a new one;

• Set Tags: add, remove, and replace any number of tags.

To set up activities related to your actions, go to the {guilabel}Activities section:

• Activities - Mark all as Done: mark all activities linked to the file as done;
• Activities - Schedule Activity: create a new activity linked to the file as configured in the action. You can choose to set the activity on the document owner.

Digitize documents with AI and optical character recognition (OCR)

Documents available in the Finance workspace can be digitized. Select the document to digitize, click {guilabel}Create Vendor Bill, {guilabel}Create Customer Invoice, or {guilabel}Create Customer Credit Note, and then click {guilabel}Send for Digitization.

:::{seealso} {doc}AI-powered document digitization <../finance/accounting/vendor_bills/invoice_digitization> :::