Overview

The application supports a wide variety of upload sizes and file and folder names. Due to certain OS and browser limitations, some file and folder uploads are limited. The tables below describe the upload limitations by operating system and browser.

Upload Best Practices

Following these best practices will help ensure smooth and successful uploads to the platform.

Compress Large or Numerous Files

For large data sets or collections containing many loose individual files, we strongly recommend compressing your data into a ZIP archive before uploading. This provides several benefits:

• Reduces overall upload time by consolidating many files into a single transfer.
• Minimizes the risk of individual file transfer failures during the upload session.
• Avoids potential issues with deeply nested folder paths exceeding OS character limits.
• The application will automatically extract and process the contents of ZIP files upon upload.

Use Local Storage for Uploads

Uploading from virtual drives, mapped network drives, or remote/cloud-synced folders (e.g., OneDrive, Google Drive sync folders, NAS shares) is not recommended and may cause upload failures or data integrity issues. Before uploading:

• Copy the data to a local drive on your workstation (e.g., C:\ drive, Desktop, or local Documents folder).
• Ensure the local copy is fully synced and complete before beginning the upload.
• This eliminates latency, intermittent connectivity, and file-locking issues associated with network and virtual storage.

Close All Applications Using the Data

Ensure that no applications have the files open or locked before uploading. Open files can cause upload failures, incomplete transfers, or corrupted data.

• Email files (PST/OST): Microsoft Outlook places locks on PST and OST files that can persist even after closing Outlook. After closing Outlook, verify the process is fully terminated in Task Manager before uploading these files. In some cases, a system restart may be necessary to release the file lock.
• Office documents: Close any Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or other Office files that are part of the upload set.
• PDF viewers: Close Adobe Acrobat or other PDF readers that may have files open.
• File Explorer / Finder: Preview panes in file browsers can sometimes lock files. Close preview panes or the file browser window for the upload directory.

Additional Best Practices

• Keep upload sessions under 20 GB: While the application can theoretically handle very large uploads, keeping individual sessions under 20 GB significantly reduces the risk of transient network errors or timeouts that may cancel the upload. If your internet connection is slow, consider limiting uploads to under 10 GB at a time.
• Use a stable internet connection: Wired Ethernet connections are preferred over Wi-Fi for large uploads. Avoid uploading over mobile hotspots or unstable connections.
• Use a supported, up-to-date browser: Ensure you are running the latest version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari for the best upload experience.
• Avoid concurrent large uploads: Running multiple large upload sessions simultaneously increases the chance of timeouts and failures.
• Verify data before uploading: Confirm that the files and folders are not corrupted and are accessible on your local machine before initiating the upload.

Operating System Limitations

Browser Limitations

Troubleshooting Uploads

If you are having trouble uploading files or folders, please try the following troubleshooting steps:

• Clear your browser cache and retry the upload.
• Verify that file and folder names are 255 characters or less (Windows requirement).
• If the folder path is very deep or long, move the folder to a shorter path (e.g., the Desktop) or compress it into a ZIP file.
• Try using the right-click Upload method to upload individual files instead of dragging and dropping entire folders.
• Ensure your web browser is the latest version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari.
• Temporarily disable or configure your firewall to allow the application as a trusted site. Note that some antivirus software includes a built-in firewall. If you are in an office environment, contact your IT administrator or Help Desk for assistance.
• If you see the error "An error occurred with the upload. Please refresh the page and try again," a proxy server may be interfering. Contact your IT department to review security settings or proxy configuration.
• Confirm that the data is stored locally and not on a network, virtual, or cloud-synced drive.
• Ensure that no applications (especially Outlook for PST files) have the upload files locked or open.