tab, drag your files onto the file table.
## Drag-and-drop files or folders
1. Open the matter and go to the tab.
2. Drag files or folders from your computer onto the file table. The area highlights when it accepts the drop.
3. Release to drop. The **Upload Manager** opens with your files staged under **Gather Files For Upload**.
4. Review the list, then click 
to start.
{% hint style="success" %}
**Tip:** You can also drop files or folders somewhere other than the file table:
* Drop directly onto a folder in the folder tree on the left to upload into that folder. BriefTech recreates any nested folder structure automatically.
* Drop straight onto the 
tab to add them at the top level of the matter.
{% endhint %}
## Use the Upload button
1. On the tab toolbar, click 
.
2. Choose **Upload Files** to pick individual files, or **Upload Folder** to pick a whole folder (the structure is preserved).
3. Select your files in the system picker. The **Upload Manager** opens with them staged.
## Start from an empty matter
If a matter has no documents yet, the tab shows a large drop zone reading **Drop files or folders here for upload**. You can:
* Drag files or folders onto it, or
* Click 
to pick them from your computer, or
* Click **Just exploring? Load sample files to try BriefTech now.** to preload a set of sample documents and see how BriefTech works without using your own files.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** If is missing from the Upload Manager, the dialog is waiting for a choice:
* If some of your files match documents already in the same folder of the matter, BriefTech asks whether to skip the duplicates or upload them anyway — pick one and the button returns.
* If you have unticked any item in the Files to Upload list, click **Apply Selection** to confirm your choice and continue.
{% endhint %}
## Track uploads in progress
Once an upload starts, you can keep working — uploads run in the background.
* Click the 
button in the top bar to open the upload monitor, where you can track progress, retry failures, and cancel or clear files. For a full description of statuses and actions, see [Upload monitor](/reference/upload-monitor.md).
* In the upload monitor, each file moves through **Pending → Uploading → Uploaded**.
* Once a file reaches **Uploaded**, the server begins processing it in the background. You can track this in the file table: under **Views** in the left panel, select 
to see files still being processed, or 
to see files that are ready.
* A file that **fails to upload** shows **Error** in the upload monitor. It stays listed there until you retry it, and because it never finished uploading it does not appear in your document lists.
* A file that **uploads but then fails to process** appears in the 
view, marked with a red icon. The reason is shown in that view's **Exception** column, and hovering the icon shows it too — see [Reprocess a failed document](/how-to-guides/process/reprocess-failed-document.md).
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Wait for a file to appear under** **before you run AI analysis on it.** Files still under are not yet ready for AI analysis.
{% endhint %}
Your documents are now in the matter: each file moves from **Pending** through **Uploading** to **Uploaded** in the upload monitor while you keep working, and once the server has processed it, it appears under and is ready for AI analysis.
## Related
| Upload monitor | Track upload progress, retry failures, and clear finished files. | Upload monitor |
| Supported file formats | Which file types BriefTech can ingest and process. | Supported file formats |
| File size and storage limits | Per-file and per-account upload limits. | File size and storage limits |
| Organise documents into folders | Structure uploaded files once they're in the matter. | Organise documents into folders |