Host a document archive with Paperless-ngx

Paperless-ngx turns your pile of letters, invoices and PDFs into a searchable archive. You upload a document, Paperless reads the text on it (OCR), and later you find it by searching or by tag. This guide covers ordering it in the panel, the first login, uploading and organising documents, the text recognition language, the mobile apps, and what to know about backups and your own domain.

What you get

The panel sets up Paperless-ngx together with its own database and storage for your documents, gives it an address with HTTPS and creates an admin account for you. You do not have to walk through an installer.

1. Order the app

1. Sign in to the panel, open Apps in the sidebar and click Create App.
2. Under Template, choose Paperless-ngx. You find it under Self-hosted apps.
3. Under Package, pick a package and set the resources with the sliders. Paperless needs memory while it reads documents, so do not choose the smallest setting if you scan large files.
4. Under Details, fill in Display name. If a Version field is shown, leave it on Latest (recommended).
5. Tick the confirmation box, click Deploy app and pay.

Paperless-ngx sets itself up on the first start. If the page does not load right after the status shows Running, wait a moment and try again.

2. Log in for the first time

1. On the app page, find the Admin login card and click Reveal. It shows the Username (admin) and the Password of the admin account the panel created.
2. In the Access card, wait for HTTPS active and click Open.
3. Log in with the username and password from the card.

Then change the password: open the user menu at the top right, go to My Profile and set a new password. The Admin login card always shows the password the app started with. Once you change it inside Paperless, the one in the card no longer works, so save the new one in a password manager.

3. Add documents

1. On the dashboard, click Upload new documents, or drag files onto the page.
2. Paperless takes PDF and image files, such as JPG and PNG.
3. Watch the progress in the notifications. Paperless processes one document at a time, so a big batch takes a while.

When a document is done, it shows up under Documents, and its text is searchable.

There is no watch folder here: you add documents through the web page or the mobile app.

4. Organise your documents

Give documents a Tag, a Correspondent (who it is from) and a Document type. Paperless learns from what you choose and starts suggesting these for new documents, so the more you sort at the start, the less you do later.

5. The text recognition language

The panel starts Paperless with English text recognition. Documents in other languages are still stored and can be found by their title and tags, but their text is read best in the right language.

To change it, open Configuration in the Paperless menu and set the OCR language. Common languages such as German are built in. For others, for example Dutch, the panel does not install extra language packs.

6. Connect the mobile app

1. Install a Paperless app, for example Paperless Mobile on Android or Swift Paperless on iPhone.
2. Enter the address from the Access card, your username and password.
3. Scan or upload documents straight from your phone.

7. Backups

The Backups card lists the backups of your Paperless-ngx. The panel makes them automatically on a schedule that depends on your package, and each backup holds your documents and the database.

Click Create backup before you update Paperless-ngx or change something big. With Restore you put a backup back. That overwrites everything that changed since the backup, and Paperless-ngx is offline until the restore is done.

All details are in Back up and restore your app.

8. Your own domain

1. On the app page, go to the Custom Domains card and click Add domain.
2. Enter your domain and follow the DNS instructions the panel shows.
3. Wait until the domain shows as verified. HTTPS is set up for you.

The app then restarts briefly, and your first verified domain becomes the main address of your Paperless. The original address from the Access card keeps working too.

The full steps, including the DNS records, are in Connect your own domain to an app. No domain yet? See Register a domain.

Keeping Paperless-ngx up to date

When a new version is ready, the app page shows Update available with an Update button. Make a backup first, then update.