File size and storage limits
Maximum file sizes, storage allowance, and path length limits.
Maximum file size
BriefTech checks a file's size against a limit for its type — the type it detects, which is not always the one the extension claims.
1 GB (reported as 1024 MB)
Legacy Office (doc, xls, ppt)
500 MB
Modern Office (docx, xlsx, pptx) and ZIP archives
No fixed limit
All other supported types
500 MB
Types shown as "No fixed limit" are read metadata-only at this step, so their size isn't checked — but your storage allowance still applies.
The size is checked while the file is processed, not while it uploads. A file that is too large shows a File Too Large error in the Exceptions view of the file list. See Document processing and errors.
A document left in this state still takes its place in a court bundle, as a single blank page. BriefTech warns you before the bundle is built, naming the files it could not process — the first five of each kind, then a count of the rest.
Storage allowance
Every account has a storage allowance for the documents it uploads. New accounts start at 1 GB, but the allowance is set on your account and yours may differ — the figure shown on the Usage/Billing page is always the one that applies. See Check your storage usage. To change it, contact BriefTech support; there is no self-service setting.
What counts towards it
Every document in your matters counts towards the allowance, whether you uploaded it yourself or BriefTech created it by extracting an archive. Things that catch people out:
Documents you have moved to the bin still count. Deleting a document permanently is what frees the space.
Documents in matters you have finished with still count — the allowance covers your whole account, not one matter.
Extracting a ZIP or an email's attachments adds the extracted files as documents in their own right, and the archive or email you extracted from is kept as well. The two together can take up considerably more space than the archive did on its own.
The same document uploaded twice counts twice. BriefTech warns you when a file looks like a duplicate, but if you go ahead both copies are stored. Splitting a PDF works the same way: the parts are added alongside the original.
Documents count against the account that owns the matter they are in. Files a colleague uploads into your matter use your allowance; files you upload into a matter shared with you use the owner's, not yours.
The other files BriefTech creates from your documents — the PDF version, previews and extracted text — do not count.
When you go over
Before files are added to the upload queue, BriefTech checks their combined size against the space left in the matter you are uploading into. Your allowance covers your whole account, so passing this check does not mean you are within your allowance overall.
Once your account total does pass the allowance, BriefTech stops accepting new uploads in every matter you can upload to, including matters shared with you, until the total comes back under. An upload blocked this way fails with "You are not allowed to upload files. Check your limits. (storage/unauthorized)", and a red banner appears on the Usage/Billing page: "Storage limit exceeded. Please free up space or contact support for an upgrade."
The block is applied after your uploads finish processing, so a large batch can take you over before it takes effect; the next upload is the one that is stopped. To clear it, permanently delete documents and wait for the totals to update.
Path length
When you drag and drop files or folders into BriefTech, an item whose path is longer than 260 characters is rejected before the upload starts. The 
button does not apply this check.
One over-long item stops the rest of that drag: anything BriefTech had not yet reached is never staged. Files it had already gathered stay in the upload list, so check that list before uploading, or cancel and start the drop again.
The length counted is the path inside the item you dragged — not where that item sits on your computer, and not the BriefTech folder you are uploading into.
The same message can also appear for other reasons. See Fixing upload issues for what to do about it.
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