# Find a file

Searching what has been attached, narrowing a long list, and getting back to the record a file came from.

Documents is one list of everything attached anywhere, which makes it the fastest way back to a file when you cannot remember which ticket it was on. Three controls narrow it: the type chips, the advanced filters and the sort.

## Highlights

- **Start with the type chips.** Most searches are for a photograph or a PDF.
- **The Associated to filter** narrows by which kind of record a file hangs off.
- **Folders narrow it further**, once somebody has filed things into them.
- **A date range finds a file by when it arrived**, which people remember better than filenames.
- **The Associated To column is the way back** to the record itself.

## Narrow the list

![The Documents screen with an Advanced filters popover open from the More filters button. It holds an Associated to picker set to All entities, a Folder picker set to All folders, and From and To date fields in day, month, year format, above Cancel and Apply buttons. Behind it the type chips read All 6, Images 1, PDFs 3, Docs, Sheets and Other 2.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/repairs/documents/more-filters.png)

*Three ways to narrow at once: what kind of record it hangs off, which folder it is in, and when it arrived.*

- **Go to Documents**

  Reach it from the tab bar, or through **All Modules**.
- **Select a type chip**

  **Images** for a photograph, **PDFs** for a certificate or a delivery note. Each chip carries a count, so you can see whether it is worth selecting.
- **Select More filters for anything narrower**

  Set **Associated to** for the kind of record, **Folder** if things have been filed, and a **From** and **To** date if you remember roughly when it arrived.
- **Select Apply**
- **Sort by selecting a column heading**

  The list opens newest first, which is usually right. Sort by **File** to group different versions of a similarly named document.

## Getting back to the record

*Reading the Associated To column*

| What it shows | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| A record number and a customer name | The file is attached to that document. The line underneath names the kind |
| A record kind with no number | It is attached to a record that does not carry a number of its own |
| Standalone, in italics | It is attached to nothing. Somebody uploaded it here directly |
| A folder name in the Folder column | It has been filed. Use the Folder filter to find its siblings |

> **Tip:**
>
> **Search the ticket, not the file, when you know the job**
>
> If you know which repair a photograph belongs to, the header search is quicker: enter the ticket number, open the ticket, and read the **Attachments** chip in its activity panel. Documents is for the other case, where you remember the file and not the job.

> **Note:**
>
> **Folders are optional and unused until somebody uses them**
>
> Every row offers **Add to folder**, and until a workshop decides on a folder scheme the column stays empty and the filter does nothing. It is worth agreeing a small set of folders before the list grows past a few hundred files, rather than after.