The File Manager is a great feature that allows you and your users to upload and download files from your app. In this article we’ll go over how to use this feature in the App Dashboard, as well as how your users will use it on their phones.

Some use cases of this feature include:

As we mentioned earlier, the File Manager allows you to upload, download, and organize files within your app. Next we’ll go over how to manage it in the App Dashboard, then we’ll go over how it’s used by someone while they’re in your app.

When you open the File Manager in the App Dashboard you’ll see that it’s broken up into two sections, Folders and Files:

If you want to use Folders to organize your files, we recommend that you create those first, then upload the files to those folders once they have been created. If you don’t want to use Folders, you can upload files to the Home screen of the File Manager. Here’s how to add a new Folder or File: 

Step 1: Click On “Add New”

In the lower right-hand corner under the “Files” section you’ll see a green button titled “Add New”:

When you click on this button you’ll have the option to either create a new Folder or upload a new File:

If you choose “Upload File” it will bring up the File Explorer on your computer where you can locate the file that you want to upload and upload it to the Home screen of the File Manager. You can upload multiple files at once, and if you’d like to upload more files after the initial one(s) that you selected have been uploaded you can select “Add More Files” in this prompt:

If you’re looking to upload files to folders, you’ll need to create them first by selecting “New Folder” then follow these steps:

Step 2: Give the Folder a Name

When you click on “New Folder” you’ll see this prompt:

Give the folder and name and click “Create”. Once a Folder has been created you’ll see it appear in the “Folders” section:

Step 3: Click On The Folder

Now that you’ve created the folder, click on its name to enter that folder:

This will allow you to upload files to that folder, or add subfolders to it using the “Add New” button:

If you need to navigate back to the Home screen of the File Manager, all you need to do is click on “Home” in the top left-hand corner of the File Manager in the App Dashboard:

You can make as many Subfolders as you’d like, and you can use that navigation area to move to the higher-level folder(s). When you create a folder, you have the option to delete it or rename it at a later time which you can do by clicking on the three dots next to that folder:

You can also do this for files uploaded to the File Manager, with the additional option to download them:

Now that you know how to manage the File Manager in the App Dashboard, let’s go over how users interact with the feature in your app.

The user’s experience in-app is very similar to that of your experience in the App Dashboard. If they want to create a new Folder or upload a File in the app, they’ll tap on the “+” button in the lower right hand corner of the screen:

This will bring up the same prompt asking them if they want to create a new Folder or upload a File:

If they tap on Folder they’ll get this prompt where they can give the Folder a name and tap “Create” to create a new Folder:

If they tap on File, they’ll see this prompt where all they need to do is tap on “Add More Files” in order to access the files on their phone to upload them.

Note: The first time that the user taps on “Add More Files” they may be prompted to give the app access to their phone’s files. They will need to accept this in order for them to be able to upload files from their phone.

Just like in the App Dashboard if someone wants to rename or delete a folder, or download a file, all they need to do is tap on the three dots next to the Folder or File to do this:

Congratulations! You now know how to manage the File Manager in the App Dashboard, as well as how users interact with the feature in your app.

Having worked with apps for years, we’ve learned a thing or two. So, to both help your app stand out and accomplish your primary goals, here’s a tip we think you should consider.

Pro Tip: You Can Disable Users From Uploading Documents

Because you have a total size limit on how much can be uploaded to the File Manager, you can disable the ability for users to upload files in the “Settings” tab of the feature in the App Dashboard:

This can help you maintain the amount of files stored in the File Manager so that you don’t reach your limit. If you’re ever curious about how much storage you have left, you can view this in the lower left-hand corner of the feature in the App Dashboard under the “Files” section:

In addition to this article, we recommend checking out the following related articles so that you have a better insight into how to use the system to its fullest advantage:

Still have questions? No problem! Reach out to us and we’d be happy to help :)