Where Files Come From
The Files list is five sources merged into one. Source and Reference tell you which one a file arrived by.
Navigate to: Files
Nothing has to be filed here for it to appear here. The list is assembled from every place in the product that accepts a file, so an attachment made two months ago on an invoice is one search away without anyone remembering which invoice it was.
The five sources
| Where the file was added | Source reads | Reference reads |
|---|---|---|
| The Attachments field on a document — invoice, bill, receipt, credit note, purchase order and every other type | The document type, e.g. Invoice | That document's number, e.g. INV-001042 |
| The attachments on a manual journal | Journal | The journal's number |
| The attachments on a payment request | Payment Request | The request's number |
| A statement attached while importing bank transactions | Attached | Bank |
| An upload made in Files with + New | Import | Import |
Both columns show the literal word Import for a file uploaded through + New — it has no document to name. It has nothing to do with the Import history tab, which lists CSV and Excel imports rather than uploads. Read it as "no document", and use the filename to tell your uploads apart.
Why a document attachment shows one document
A single stored file can be linked to more than one document. The list picks one of them — the most recently created — so that the Name, Source and Reference on a row can never be assembled from three different documents. The file is the same file whichever document you reach it from.
What the list does not include
Logos, brand assets and item images are stored the same way but are not part of this list — they belong to the settings surface that manages them. Imported CSV and Excel source files have their own tab; see Import history.
Related
- The file list — the columns and the toolbar
- Attaching to documents — how a document attachment gets here
- Searching files — finding one across all five sources