Inbox Folder Watching

Automatically detect and process documents placed in your Filently inbox folder in Google Drive.

Written By Valentin from Filently

Last updated 4 days ago

What is inbox folder watching?

Inbox folder watching lets Filently automatically detect documents that are added to your inbox folder from outside the app. This means you can save files directly to Google Drive, sync them from your desktop, use a mobile scanning app, or have someone share a file into the folder, and Filently will pick them up.

The inbox folder

When Filently is set up, it creates a folder called _ Filently Inbox inside your root folder. This is the same folder that Filently uses when you upload documents through the app. Files land here first and are then moved to their final destination once they are processed and filed.

You can find a direct link to your inbox folder on the Sources page.

You may notice other files appearing in this folder from time to time. This is normal. Documents uploaded through Filently sit here temporarily until they are filed.

You can rename or move the inbox folder in Google Drive at any time. Filently will continue to use it regardless of its name or location.

How it works

Inbox folder watching is active by default. When a new file appears in your inbox folder, Filently detects it and shows it on the Sources page as a pending document. You then have two ways to process these files:

Manual approval (default)

  1. A file is added to your inbox folder, by you, another app, or someone sharing a file into it.

  2. Filently detects the new file and lists it on the Sources page.

  3. You click "Approve Documents" to open a file picker where you select which files to process. Usually you want to process all of those files, so you can just click on one file and press CMD+A (on Mac) or Ctrl+A (on Windows and Linux) to select all at once.

  4. Selected files are processed. They enter the normal processing pipeline (text extraction, name suggestion, folder suggestion) and appear on your dashboard.

  5. Invalid files are rejected with a clear reason (unsupported file type, too large, or duplicate).

Auto-processing (optional)

If you prefer files to be processed automatically without manual approval, you can enable Background auto-processing on the Sources page. This requires an additional Google Drive permission so Filently can read and download files automatically.

  1. On the Sources page, toggle Background auto-processing on.

  2. If prompted, grant the additional Google Drive permission.

  3. Once enabled, new files in your inbox folder are processed immediately without manual approval.

You can switch back to manual approval at any time by toggling auto-processing off.

See Google Drive Permissions Explained for details on what this additional permission allows.

Rejected files

Files that could not be processed (wrong type, too large, or duplicate) are listed on the Sources page under the Inbox Folder Watching card. You can review the rejection reason and dismiss them once you have seen them.

Successfully detected and processed files do not appear here. They go straight to your dashboard as regular documents.

Missing inbox folder

If you accidentally deleted your inbox folder from Google Drive, the Sources page will show a notice with a button to re-create it. Click Re-create folder to have Filently create a new inbox folder inside your root folder.

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