Add and organise documents

Add documents to a case and organise them so they are ready for review and redaction.

What this task achieves

The Documents & Review tab collects everything gathered for the case in one place: files found by Microsoft 365 discovery arrive here automatically, and you can upload anything discovery could not reach — paper records you have scanned, exports from other systems, or files shared with you directly. Every document is scanned and processed on arrival, and once processing finishes the collection is ready for review and redaction.

Before you begin

Upload documents

1. Open the case and select the Documents & Review tab.
2. Select Upload documents.
3. Drag files into the dialog, or select Choose files to pick them from your computer. You can add several at once.
4. Files are checked as you add them. Any that cannot be uploaded — too large, an unsupported type, or a file whose contents do not match its extension — are listed under Some files could not be added, and the rest proceed.
5. Select Upload. Files upload one at a time with individual progress. If a file's transfer fails, select Retry next to it. The dialog closes once every file has finished.

Understand scanning and processing

Each document's Status column shows where it is in processing:

• uploading — the file transfer is still completing.
• scanning — the file is being malware-scanned. It cannot be opened or downloaded until the scan passes.
• Ready for analysis — the file is clean. Hidden metadata has been removed, and Office documents have been converted to PDF for consistent review. The document is waiting for AI analysis to begin.
• analyzing — AI analysis is running to suggest personal information for review.
• Ready for review — analysis has finished and the document is ready for human review.
• completed — review of the document is complete.
• infected — the file failed the malware scan and is permanently blocked.
• failed — scanning or processing could not complete.

Recover from processing problems

• A file would not upload — use Retry next to the file in the upload dialog, or upload it again.
• A document stays at Ready for analysis — analysis has not started; select Start AI Analysis on the document to begin it.
• A document shows infected — the file is blocked and cannot be opened. Obtain a clean copy from the original source, delete the blocked document, and upload the clean copy.
• A document shows failed — processing cannot be resumed. Delete the document and upload the file again; if the same file fails repeatedly, see Troubleshoot the core workflow.

Organise and find documents

Documents are grouped by where they came from — Manual Uploads, Discovery Imports, and a group per connector — so you can always tell how something entered the case. To work with a large collection:

• Filter by status (Ready for Analysis, Ready for Review, Completed, Infected) or by file type (PDF, Office, Images). Filters combine, and the search box narrows the list by filename.
• Sort by upload date, filename, or status.
• Select several documents to act on them together. Selected documents can be deleted in one step — deleting cannot be undone, so check the selection before confirming.

If you only have read access, the tab shows a Read-only notice and the management actions are unavailable.

The right is to personal information, not documents

Official sources

• ICO: What is the right of access?

What happens next