Staging Drive Upload-Only Access: Upload and Manage Your Files

Staging Drive is your organization’s secure holding area for files before they are promoted into a review or ECA database. With the Staging Drive Upload Only permission, you can add data to your organization’s Staging Drive and manage your own uploads without having Organization Admin access.

Upload-only access is designed for people who contribute data but do not administer the organization, such as investigators, client agencies, and vendors. You only see the files you upload, so your data stays separate from other contributors’ data.

Requirements

• Staging Drive must be enabled for your organization
• An Organization Admin must grant you the Staging Drive Upload Only permission

What you can do with upload-only access

Upload-only access gives you what you need to add data to Staging Drive, and nothing more.

If you also hold other organization permissions, upload-only access is added to what you already have.

Access Staging Drive

If Staging Drive Upload Only is your only organization permission, you land on Staging Drive when you log in to Everlaw.

If you hold other permissions, go to Organization home > Staging Drive. 

Upload files to Staging Drive

Before you start: Staging Drive is optimized for large native container files. Staging Drive limits the number of items you can store: 100,000 per organization and 1,000 per folder. Because limits are based on item count, we recommend combining files into a ZIP before uploading. A ZIP counts as a single item. 

To upload files:

1. Go to Organization home > Staging Drive.
2. [Optional] If you want to upload into a folder, navigate to it. Folders are optional, so you can also upload files directly to Staging Drive.
3. Select Upload.
   
   The Upload to Staging Drive dialog opens.
4. Select browse to find the folders or files on your computer, or drag and drop them into the dialog. Select all the files for the upload in one browse or drag-and-drop action; otherwise, you need to create a separate upload.
   
5. [Optional] In the Default custodian field, enter a custodian name for the entire upload.
   
   This applies to any file you don’t assign an individual custodian.
6. [Optional] To add descriptions, select Add description for folders and documents, then enter a Default description.
   
7. [Optional] To set custodians or descriptions for individual documents, select the expand button in the table of files. ZIP folders cannot be expanded, so upload each custodian's data separately if you need different custodians.
8. Select Upload. The dialog closes, and your files appear in the Staging Drive table as they upload.
   

Manage your files

Staging Drive allows you to:

• View and update file metadata (i.e. name and custodian)
• Edit file descriptions
• Create folders
• Move documents into and out of folders
• Delete documents

View and update files’ names, custodians, and descriptions

Staging Drive allows you to edit a file’s name, description, and custodian to help organize and prepare your files. While name and custodian carry over when files are promoted, you can also edit custodians during promotion. 

To view and update file details:

1. Select the file from the table.
   A details panel appears on the right side of the window. Here you can see the file’s name, description, date uploaded, file extension, size, custodian, and uploader.
   
2. [Optional] You can edit the file’s name, description, and/or custodian:
   • To edit the file’s name, double-click the name at the top of the details panel, or select the panel’s three-dot menu, and select Edit name. Then enter the new name, and hit Enter on your keyboard.
   • To edit the file’s description, select the edit button in the DESCRIPTION field. Then enter the new value.
   • To edit the custodian, select the edit button in the Custodian field. Then enter the new value.

Create a folder

You can create folders to organize your uploads. New folders are pre-named after you, and you can rename them when you create them.

1. If you want to create a folder inside an existing folder, navigate to that folder.
2. Select + New folder.
   The New folder dialog appears.
3. [Optional] In the Folder name field, enter a name for the folder.
   
4. Select Create. The new folder appears in the table.

Check your total upload size

The total size of the data you have uploaded appears next to the Staging Drive page header. This total reflects only your uploads, not the organization’s full Staging Drive.

Download a file

To download a file you uploaded:

1. Select the file from the table.

A details panel opens on the right side of the window.

2. Select the three-dot menu, then select Download.
   

Delete files and folders

You can delete files you uploaded and folders you created.

1. Select the file(s) or folder(s) using the checkboxes in the table.
2. Select Delete.
   
   A confirmation dialog appears.
3. Select Delete to permanently delete the selection.

Move files to and from folders

To move documents to and from folders:

1. Select the applicable file(s) using the checkboxes in the table.
   A Move button appears above the table, along with Promote and Delete buttons.
2. Select Move.
   A dialog appears with a list of available folders.
   
3. Select the folder you want to use. You can navigate through these folders using the left and right arrow buttons.
   
4. Select Move.
   The file(s) are moved to their new location. Your location in the folder structure will remain unchanged.

Search for, sort, and filter files

You can search for, filter, and sort files in Staging Drive in the following ways:

• Search by file name using the search input box. Search only searches the current folder.
  
• Filter by column, by selecting the filter button from the following columns:
  • Name
  • Custodian
  • Date
  • Uploader
  • Promotion
• Sort ascending or descending by column, by selecting the sort buttons from any of the following columns:
  • Name
  • Custodian
  • Date
  • Size
  • Uploader
  • Promotion

When your data is ready for review

Upload-only users cannot promote files to a database. When your data is ready for review, let an Organization Admin know which files or folders to promote. The Organization Admin can then promote them to the appropriate review or ECA database.

FAQs

Why can’t I see files that other people uploaded?

Upload-only users see only their own uploads. This keeps contributors working on unrelated matters from seeing each other’s data. Organization Admins can see all files in Staging Drive.

Why can’t I delete a folder?

You can only delete folders you created, and only if they don’t contain another user’s files. Folders created before upload-only access was released (Release 134) have no recorded owner, so ownership-based restrictions apply only to folders created after the release. If you need a folder removed, contact an Organization Admin.

Are my uploads tracked?

Yes. Each upload is logged with your user identity, the timestamp, and the target folder, the same way Organization Admin uploads are logged.

Can I use an Everlaw cloud connector to upload data to Staging Drive?

Staging Drive does not currently support cloud connectors.