Chat with PDF

How to chat with a PDF

1. 1

   Upload your PDF Drag a text PDF onto the box that reads Upload a PDF to start chatting, or press Choose a file. Once the text is extracted, the file name, page count and word count appear at the top.

2. 2

   Ask a question Type it in the box and press Enter, or Shift+Enter for a new line. For a first question, the suggestions Summarize document, Key points and What is this PDF about? are one click away.

3. 3

   Read the answer It comes back in the language of your question. When it names a page in the form "page 3" or "p. 3" and that page has text in the part that was read, Sources lists it with its opening words: press Sources to open the list.

4. 4

   Check the cited pages Press View in PDF under the answer to show the first cited page in the preview, then use the Page buttons above that page to jump to each source.

5. 5

   Start over New Chat clears the conversation and keeps the document, with a fresh count of 50 messages. The X button (Change file) closes the document and removes its text from the page.

What the assistant can read

The assistant works from the text layer of the PDF. Pictures and scanned pages give it nothing to read, and a file made only of scans is refused with a message saying it contains no extractable text.

Files are accepted up to 4 MB and 500 pages. When the text of a document runs past about 280,000 characters (70,000 in Chinese, Japanese or Korean), only the pages that fit in the first 240,000 characters (60,000 in those languages) are read, so questions about the last chapters may get no answer or a wrong one. Split the file and upload the part you need.

A PDF that asks for a password when it opens is refused as well. Remove the password with Unlock, then upload the unlocked copy.

Getting useful answers

• • Ask about one thing at a time and name what you are after: the notice period, the total amount, the delivery date.
• • Follow-up questions build on the conversation, since each one is sent together with the earlier messages, so "What about the second option?" is understood.
• • Ask for the shape you need, such as a bulleted list of dates or three short points.
• • A question can be up to 4,000 characters long. To discuss a long passage, give its page number instead of pasting it.
• • When the answer says the document does not contain the information, rephrase with the words the document itself uses.

How long a conversation lasts

A conversation holds 50 messages, counting your questions and the answers, which means about 25 questions. A counter appears when 10 messages are left. To go on after that, press New Chat: the document stays loaded and a new conversation starts.

The document text and the conversation live in the tab only: nothing is saved in your browser's storage, and both disappear when you close or reload the tab. The server does not keep them either: it receives them with each question and keeps nothing once it has answered.