Skip to main content

Uploading PDFs

PDF documents are the most common content type for knowledge bases.

Upload a PDF​

  1. Open your chatbot
  2. Go to "Knowledge Base"
  3. Click "Upload Document"
  4. Select your PDF file
  5. Wait for processing to complete

Supported PDF Types​

TypeSupport
Text-based PDFsFull support
Scanned PDFsOCR processing available
Password-protectedNot supported
EncryptedNot supported

Processing Status​

After upload, your PDF goes through these stages:

StatusDescription
UploadingFile is being transferred
ProcessingText extraction and embedding
ReadyAvailable for queries
FailedProcessing error (see troubleshooting)

File Limits​

PDF uploads use both plan and file-type caps.

Effective per-file limit = min(plan limit, PDF hard limit)

  • PDF hard limit: 500 MB
PlanMax PDF Size
Free25 MB
Starter200 MB
Pro500 MB
Pro+500 MB
Business500 MB
Enterprise500 MB
note

Very large PDFs can take longer to process. There is no fixed page-count guarantee.

See Subscription Plans for all file types.

Best Practices​

Before Uploading​

  • Ensure the PDF has selectable text
  • Remove unnecessary pages
  • Check that content is relevant to your chatbot's purpose

Document Quality​

Good PDFs have:

  • Clear, readable text
  • Proper headings and structure
  • Machine-readable content (not just images)

Scanned Documents​

For scanned PDFs:

  • Enable OCR during upload
  • Ensure high scan quality (300 DPI minimum)
  • Expect slightly lower accuracy than text-based PDFs

Viewing Uploaded PDFs​

  1. Go to "Knowledge Base"
  2. Find the document in the list
  3. Click to view details:
    • Page count
    • Processing status
    • Chunk count
    • Access settings

Troubleshooting​

Processing Failed​

Common causes:

  • Corrupted file
  • Password protection
  • File too large
  • Unsupported format

Solution: Try re-uploading or check file format.

Poor Answer Quality​

If your chatbot isn't using PDF content well:

  • Check if the PDF has selectable text
  • Try enabling OCR for scanned documents
  • Verify content was processed (check chunk count)