# How folders work on a record

What a folder is and which record it belongs to, how files and folders relate, where folders appear, who may change them, what deleting does, and what the folders do not do.

**Attachments and folders** turns the **Files** box of a chatter into a small file explorer: folder cards at the top, the files that are in no folder below them, and a folder's own files once it is opened. It adds no app, no menu and no screen of its own; everything happens inside the chatter of the record you are looking at.

## What a folder is {#what-a-folder-is}

A folder is a name attached to one record: a client, a case, a contract, an invoice. It holds no files of its own; it only groups some of that record's files.

- **One record.** A folder shows only in the chatter of the record where it was made. Another record has its own folders, even if they carry the same names.
- **One level.** There are no folders inside folders: all the folders of a record sit side by side at the top of the **Files** box.
- **Order of creation.** Folders are listed in the order they were made and cannot be reordered. A card shows the folder's name and, once the folder holds files, their number.
- **Nothing else.** A folder has a name and nothing more: no colour, no description, no owner, no access rights.

## Files stay the record's attachments {#files}

Putting a file in a folder only labels the file with that folder; the file stays an attachment of the same record.

| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| The paperclip's number | Every file of the record, in a folder or not |
| The top of the **Files** box | The folder cards, then the files that are in no folder |
| An open folder | Only the files of that folder, under **All files** and its name |
| **Download** and **Remove** on a file | The same buttons as without folders, explained in [Follow a record with the chatter](/docs/essentials/follow-a-record-with-the-chatter) |

A file sits in one folder at most. When a folder disappears, its files show at the top of the box again: a file never becomes invisible because of a folder.

Files reach a folder by being dragged onto its card, or by **Attach files** clicked inside the open folder. A file dropped from the computer onto the chatter always lands at the top of the box, outside the folders, even while a folder is open.

## Where folders appear {#where}

On every record that has a chatter, in every app, as soon as the record is saved: the **New folder** button sits in the top bar of the chatter, just before the magnifier (**Search Messages**). The module is installed together with the chatter itself and has no settings, no scheduled job and no e-mail.

The folders are shown in the **Files** box, which the paperclip opens only when the record has at least one file; on a record without files the paperclip opens the file picker. Attach a first file before making folders on a new record.

## Who may do what {#access}

Folders have no access rights of their own. What a user may do follows the right to open the record and, for anything that changes its files, the right to edit it, as for any attachment.

| Action | Who may do it |
|---|---|
| See the folders, open them | Any internal user who can open the record |
| Create, rename a folder, delete an empty one | Any internal user who can open the record |
| Move a file in or out, add files into a folder | A user who can edit the record |
| Delete a folder that holds files, keeping or deleting them | A user who can edit the record |

Portal users and website visitors never see folders.

## What deleting does {#deleting}

- **An empty folder** is deleted at once, without a question.
- **A folder with files** asks first, in the **Delete folder** dialog: **Keep files (move them out)** returns the files to the top of the box, **Delete files too** deletes them for good, **Cancel** changes nothing. [Delete a folder](delete-a-folder) shows the steps.
- **Neither folders nor attachments go to the recycle bin.** A deleted file must be attached again; a deleted folder made again.
- **When the record itself is deleted**, its files are deleted with it and its folders are no longer shown anywhere. A record brought back from the [recycle bin](/docs/recycle-bin) returns without its files and folders.

## On a phone {#phone}

The chatter sits below the form. A double tap opens a folder, and a single touch on a card shows its rename and delete icons, which a computer shows while the pointer rests on the card. Existing files move only by dragging their cards, so on a phone the simplest way to file documents is **Attach files** inside the open folder.

## What the folders do not do {#limits}

- No list of all folders, no search or filter by folder, and no folder shared between records.
- No sub-folders, no reordering, no colours.
- No access rights per folder: everyone who can open the record sees every folder.
- Duplicating a record does not copy its folders.
- A file is never in two folders; to keep the same document on two records, attach it to each.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/attachments/how-folders-work
- Updated: 2026-10-27
- Version: Attachments and folders 19.0.1.0.0