Documents
Importing from Google Drive, Dropbox and Gmail
Pick files from Google Drive or Dropbox, or connect an account so documents and email attachments arrive in your library automatically.
There are two different ways to get documents in from outside Spyral. They behave differently, so it is worth knowing which one you are using.
- Picking a file once, from the upload page. This is a one off. Nothing is connected afterwards.
- Connecting an account, from Settings. Spyral then keeps importing new files by itself.
Picking a single file
On the Upload Documents page there are Google Drive and Dropbox buttons in the top right. Each opens that service's own file picker. The file you choose is downloaded into the upload list, and from there it behaves exactly like a file you dragged in from your computer.
That means the same rules apply: PDF, DOCX or XLSX, and 10 MB maximum. See Uploading documents.
Things that can go wrong:
- "Google Drive is not configured" or "Dropbox is not configured" means this has not been switched on for your firm. Ask your Spyral administrator.
- "Authentication was cancelled" means the sign in window was closed before it finished.
- "Access denied" means permission was refused on the provider's consent screen.
- "Import failed. Please try again." means the download did not complete.
Both pickers rely on a script loaded from Google or Dropbox. If your firm blocks third party scripts, or you use a strict ad blocker, the button appears to do nothing at all when clicked. Try again with the blocker disabled for Spyral, or ask your IT contact.
Connecting an account
Go to Settings, then the Integrations tab, and find Connected Accounts. You can connect Google Drive, Dropbox and Gmail.
For Google Drive and Gmail, Spyral shows you exactly what it will be able to see before sending you to Google.
Once connected, the account is listed with the email address it belongs to, when it last synced, and how many files have come through it.
Connecting accounts is a permission your administrator controls. If the section says you do not have access, ask them to grant it.
The two folders
When you connect Google Drive or Dropbox, Spyral creates two folders in it:
- Spyral Sync. Anything you put here is imported and shared with your whole firm.
- Spyral Private. Anything you put here is imported and visible only to you.
Spyral only ever looks in those two folders. The rest of your Drive or Dropbox is not read.
To import a document, move or copy it into one of those folders. It arrives in your library and is processed the same way as an upload.
Gmail
Connecting Gmail imports attachments from messages in your inbox. You do not choose them individually.
Everything imported from Gmail is private to you. Attachments arriving this way are not shared with the rest of your firm, even if they clearly belong to a client file.
If a colleague needs one, open the document in the library and change its access. See The document detail view.
What a connected account will accept
Files imported from a connected account may be up to 100 MB, which is much larger than the 10 MB limit on direct upload. This is the practical route for large scanned bundles.
The accepted formats are PDF, DOCX, XLSX and PPTX.
PowerPoint files are accepted by the sync but cannot be read. A .pptx file placed in a synced folder is imported, then fails during processing with "Unsupported file type" and sits in your library as a failed document.
Do not put presentations in the synced folders. Convert them to PDF first if the content matters.
Keeping it up to date
Spyral checks connected accounts on a regular schedule in the background, so a file you drop in a folder appears after a short delay rather than instantly.
Each connected account has three controls:
- Sync now pulls everything immediately instead of waiting for the next check.
- Pause sync stops new files being imported. Documents already imported stay where they are.
- Disconnect removes Spyral's access to the account entirely. Everything already imported is kept, and simply becomes an ordinary document in your library.
If something goes wrong with the connection, the error is shown in red on the account's row. Reconnecting usually clears it.
What happens when a file changes
Editing a file in a synced folder creates a second document in Spyral. The earlier version stays in your library rather than being replaced, so you end up with two rows with the same name and different contents.
Delete the older one yourself if you do not want both.
Deleting a file from the synced folder does not delete it from Spyral. The document stays in your library and stops being tracked. Delete it in Spyral as well if you want it gone.
Which route to use
- A handful of files, already on your computer: upload them directly.
- One file that lives in Drive or Dropbox: use the picker on the upload page.
- Files larger than 10 MB, or a steady flow of documents you want in Spyral without thinking about it: connect the account and use the folders.