Docs and Files

Here you can easily organize all your reference materials, shared files, and other important documents. You can sort these files alphabetically, by date, or drag and drop them in your preferred order. You can color code Docs and uploaded files and put them into specific folders. You can also switch to the list view for easy navigation:

Screenshot of the "Docs&Files" page with a red arrow pointing at the switcher between List view and Grid view

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Files

Documents

Adding Files to Messages and Docs

Anywhere you see the text editor in Basecamp 4, you can attach a file one of two ways:

1. Add from your computer.

Click the paperclip icon and then select a file from your computer:

NOTE: You always need to use the paperclip icon 📎 in the editor to upload files and images to Basecamp, not copy and paste them in.  When you copy/paste, it isn't actually uploading a copy of the file to our servers, it's only pasting a copy of the file/image in your browser's local cache. It then breaks when the copy in your cache clears out. When you upload a file correctly, you'll see "view full size" and "download" links directly under the file.

2. Drag and drop.
Drag a file from anywhere on your computer and drop it onto the page where the text editor is open. The file will appear where your cursor is, so be sure the cursor is in the place where you want the file.

NOTE: Image files (PNG, JPG, GIF) will appear with previews in your browser! ✨
You can delete a file from your post by clicking on it, then selecting the trash bin. 

NOTE:Unlike Basecamp 2, files added as attachments in other project tools cannot be found in the Docs & Files section — they'll only live right where you attached them. If you're looking for a file attached to a message, say, use the Find feature. 🔎

Adding standalone files to your Project

First, go to the Project and click the Docs & Files option. Then, click the green  New button. You can select files from your computer, or drag and drop them.

After you've added the files, you can change their file name, add extra notes or notify users on the project.
To delete a file attached to an item, click   ...  and   Put in the trash.

File Size Limitations

Uploading a file as an attachment is limited to 10 GB in size.

Uploading a standalone file is limited to 5 GB in size. 

If you need to upload a standalone file larger than 5 GB to the Docs & Files section of a project, you can consider creating a Basecamp Doc and attaching your file to to that document. 

Viewing PDFs and Image Files

You can view some files (PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF) directly in your browser. Just click the file, then click ' View Full Size'.

A GIF showing a Basecamp file clicked on, then viewed at full size in a browser.

File Versioning

If you made changes to a file and need to add a new version, no worries! Go to the file in the project, and click to Replace with a new version.

Deleting and searching for files

Need to delete a file or restore a deleted file?  Here's how!

Searching for a specific file?  Try this!

Are your files saved in another program? You can link to those files in your Basecamp projects! 

You can link to your documents and files in: Adobe Creative Cloud, Airtable, Basecamp, Box, Dropbox, Figma, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Invision, Notion, OneDrive, and Zoho. There's a really handy "Other" category that allows anyone to link to anything hosted elsewhere. 

To start, head to your Docs & Files section in your Project. Click the green  New... button, then click the option you need from the list of Cloud File services.

Add a title, and paste the link to your file. Add a note for more detail, and click the "Post this" button:

Viewing Cloud Files

To view a linked cloud file, click the View on...  button. This will open a browser tab taking you directly to the document, file, or page that's linked.

You'll need to be logged in and you'll need to have permissions to view where that link takes you. If you don't, you can request permission from the creator so clicking on a link from Basecamp will be seamless.

Basecamp Docs

Need a place to take notes during a meeting? Use a text doc. Want to add reference material that others on the project need? Use a text doc.

When you're ready to set up a text doc, click the green  New button. Then, click to Start a new doc.

Give it a title, add your text, and then use the buttons below to Save it as a draft, Post your document, or Schedule it to post later. You can also choose who should be notified about your post:

Screenshot of a document with a red arrow pointing at the options below -- Save as a draft, Post it, or Schedule to post later

After you post it, you can add comments and notify other users:

Screenshot of a comment with an arrow pointing at the "Add this comment" button

NOTE: A scheduled document will not be posted and remain a draft if:
  • The author was removed from the project
  • The author was removed from the account
  • The account is cancelled or inactive

Document Versioning

Ever need to review or restore past versions of a Basecamp document? If you want to take a look at the changes a document has gone through, just click  View change log from the  ... menu.

You'll see an updated view of all the changes that have happened to the document.

Wanna ditch the changes and go back to the way it was before? No problem, just open up the last good version and click the button to "Make this the current version."

Folders

Folders let you group stuff together in a way that makes sense for you and your team!

To create a new folder, click the green  New button and then click to make a new folder.

You'll see a small card with Untitled in it. Type the name of the folder and then click  Save  

Now, simply drag Basecamp Docs, files, and cloud files from the Docs & Files section into the folder:

To move files or folders up to their parent folders, choose Move from the   ...  menu, and choose a destination folder:

You can also move or copy docs and files into other projects.  Read more about that here.

Downloading

Need to download or use your Docs & Files outside of Basecamp? You can download an entire folder in a couple clicks. Here’s how:

1
First go to the folder you'd like to download.
2
Click the  ...  menu in the top-right.
3
In that menu you’ll find an option to Download this folder, click that.

NOTE: Depending on the size of the folder, it can take up to a minute or so to gather up the contents of the folder. Just hang tight — your download will start automatically as soon as it’s ready.

Removing the Docs & Files tool

You can hide a tool from a Project if it's not needed. See if a clear space really does organize the mind!

Here's how:  Changing Tools

Next up: Doors →

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