---
title: "Add documents to a Workspace or Chat - In Parallel help"
description: "Add documents as durable Workspace context, use one to create a maintained page, or attach one to a Chat conversation."
url: https://www.in-parallel.com/help/add-workspace-documents
---

# Add documents to a Workspace or Chat

Add documents as durable Workspace context, use one to create a maintained page, or attach one to a Chat conversation.

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Use the Workspace upload paths for authoritative documents that should remain durable context. In Parallel is not a general file library: choose source material that supports the Workspace Context, maintained pages, priorities, or decisions. Chat attachments can instead provide temporary context for a conversation.

## Choose the right document

Good source material includes:

- A current project or program brief
- A strategy or operating-model document
- An approved charter or mandate
- A decision record or handover document
- A source that explains constraints not captured in meetings

Avoid uploading every working file. Duplicate, stale, or contradictory documents make it harder to understand which source should guide a maintained page or answer.

## Add a Workspace source document

1. Open the Workspace.
2. Open your user menu, select **Settings** , and choose the Workspace.
3. Open **Pages** .
4. Under **Background documents** , select **Upload document** .
5. Choose a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Markdown, or text file.
6. Check that the document appears in the Workspace before relying on it.

Empty Background documents panel with Upload document and supported file types

_Example: the Background documents panel before a file has been uploaded._

Background documents give meeting preparation and recommendations durable Workspace-specific context. They are separate from the maintained page tree shown under **Structure**.

Emailing documents to In Parallel is no longer supported. Add them here as Workspace sources, or attach them in Chat.

## Check how maintained pages use the source

Open a maintained Workspace page and select **About this page**. The dialog explains what the page draws on. A page can use Workspace activity, the Context page, and uploaded documents, depending on its type.

Adding a file does not prove that every maintained page used it or that the latest refresh succeeded. Check the page’s update or refresh state and review important claims against the source.

## Attach a document in Chat

Use a Chat attachment when you want In Parallel to analyze a file as part of the current conversation. The **Attach documents** control is available in the current composer, but successful uploads can still depend on your account’s rollout. If an upload does not complete, use a Workspace upload path or contact your In Parallel Customer Success contact.

1. Open **Home** or an existing Chat conversation.
2. Select **Add context** .
3. Select **Attach documents** and choose the file.
4. If the answer should also use Workspace context, open **Add context** again and select the relevant Workspace.
5. Enter a prompt that explains what you want to learn, compare, summarize, or create from the document.

A Chat attachment is conversation context. To keep a document as a durable Workspace source, add it under **Settings → [Workspace] → Pages → Background documents** instead.

## Start a page from a document

Open **Settings → [Workspace] → Pages**, select **Manage pages**, then choose **Upload a document** under **Create or import**. One selected file is added under Background documents and used to create a native Workspace page.

Review the page’s first version, **About this page**, and update state before treating it as an authoritative synthesis.

## Related

- [Use your Workspace pages](https://www.in-parallel.com/help/team-wiki)
- [Use In Parallel Chat](https://www.in-parallel.com/help/use-in-parallel-chat)
- [What belongs in In Parallel (and what doesn’t)](https://www.in-parallel.com/help/what-belongs-in-in-parallel-and-what-doesnt)
- [What the AI can and can’t see](https://www.in-parallel.com/help/what-the-ai-can-and-cant-see)

[All help articles](https://www.in-parallel.com/help)