Overview
Every project has a Files tab: one place for its artwork, drafts and paperwork. From it you can upload files, sort them into folders, find them again, share them with people outside your business, and keep earlier versions.
At the top of the tab is the storage bar. It shows where this business keeps its files, and it is also where you drop new ones.
Where your files live
A business keeps its project files in one storage system at a time:
- Beeswax Storage — the default. Files are held by Beeswax and count toward your plan's storage allowance; the bar shows how much you have used (for example "1 MB of 5 GB used").
- Your own storage — a NAS, Google Drive or OneDrive. Once it is connected, the bar names it with a Connected badge, and new files go straight there without using any of your plan's storage.
An Owner, Super Admin or Accounts user can choose Connect your own storage on the bar (or the gear on a connected bar) to open the Storage card in your business settings. Setting each one up has its own article: NAS Storage, Google Drive Storage and OneDrive Storage.
Switching storage only changes where new files go. Files uploaded before stay where they were and keep working; the Source column shows where each one lives.
If your own storage stops responding, the bar says Not connected and offers Fix connection. Nothing can be uploaded until it is fixed: Beeswax never quietly puts the files on Beeswax Storage instead.
On a NAS
The Files page lists the project's NAS folder as it is, so files your team saves there from the office turn up here too, without uploading anything. Client users don't see the NAS folder.
If the project's folder is renamed or moved on the NAS itself, Beeswax doesn't recreate it. The page shows that the folder wasn't found and offers Choose folder, so you can point the project at its new location.
On Google Drive
Browse existing files opens Google's own file picker, so you can link files that are already in your Drive. They are linked, not copied, and stay where they are. Open in Google Drive takes you to the project's folder.
Financial documents stay in Beeswax
Your NAS, Google Drive or OneDrive is for project working files. The money side of the business never goes there. These are always stored by Beeswax, whatever storage you connect:
- Invoices, quotes and expenses, and every file attached to them in their Files panel
- Supplier invoices sent in by email, and receipts uploaded from the Uncategorised inbox or the mobile app
PDFs Beeswax generates, such as invoices and payslips, and payroll records
BAS and tax statement files
Bank statements and reconciliations
This is deliberate, for security and privacy: financial records hold your clients' and staff's details and your bank information. They count toward your plan's storage allowance.
Attachments on tasks and task messages are project work, so they follow your storage settings like any other project file.
Upload files
Choose Upload files on the storage bar, or drag files from your computer and drop them anywhere on the Files card.
- Up to 10 files at a time, each up to 2 GB
- Each file shows its progress as it uploads; large files go up in pieces and are then saved to your storage, which can take a moment longer
- Files land in the folder you are viewing
Folders
- New folder creates a folder inside the one you are viewing. On a NAS, a folder is a real folder in the project's folder there.
- Open a folder by choosing it. The breadcrumb above the list (Files / Logo concepts) takes you back up.
- To move files, tick them and choose Move (or Move to Folder from a file's menu), then pick a folder or Project root. You can also drag files onto a folder.
- A folder's menu has Rename and Delete. Only empty folders can be deleted.
Find and check files
- Keyword Filter narrows the list to files matching what you type.
- Switch between the list and the card view; cards show a preview of each file. Images and PDFs open in a preview when you choose them.
- The Status column shows whether a file is private (an eye with a line through it) or public, and a version badge (for example v2) when it has earlier versions.
The Source column
The Source column shows where each file actually lives. Hover the icon for the full explanation.
| Source | What it means |
|---|---|
| Beeswax | Stored by Beeswax. Counts toward your plan storage. |
| Google Drive, OneDrive or NAS | Stored on your own storage. Uses none of your plan storage. |
| Google Drive · Linked | The file was already in your Drive and Beeswax holds a link, not a copy. Shown with a small arrow beside the icon. |
A linked file can't be made public from Beeswax, and deleting it here removes only the link: your file is untouched.
Note: Beeswax doesn't store files that live on your own storage, but it keeps a small preview image of images and PDFs so the Files page can show a thumbnail.
Share files
Project files are private to begin with: your team can open them, and so can people you send a share link to.
Share by email
- Tick the files (or open one file's menu) and choose Share.
- Enter the recipient's email address and choose when the link expires: never, or after 7, 30 (the default) or 90 days.
- Each recipient gets their own download link by email. They don't need a Beeswax login, and the files stay private.
Share Links
Open Share Links… from a file's menu to see who it has been sent to: when each link was created, when it expires, how often it has been opened, and whether it is still active. Revoke one link, or Revoke all links, at any time.
Share as zip
Tick several files and choose Share as zip to send one zip download, with a link that lasts at most 30 days. It is built in the background, doesn't count toward your storage, and is deleted once its links end; manage it under Shared zips. Videos, audio, photos, archives and files over 100 MB aren't zipped: each is sent as its own link in the same email.
Make Public
Make Public (anyone with the link) lets anyone who has the file's link download it without signing in. Use it with care: a share link is usually the better choice, because it goes to one person and can expire or be revoked. Client users don't see project files in Beeswax, so a share link is also how a file reaches a client. Make Private turns it off. Making a NAS file public copies it into the NAS's public folder.
Private files can be downloaded only by members of your account who can see the file's project.
Other actions
- Download saves the file, or tick several and choose Download.
- Show in Finder (NAS files, when a local network path is set) copies the file's path on your network, ready to paste into Finder's Go to Server (⌘K).
- Open in Google Drive / Open in OneDrive open a file stored there; OneDrive files can also open in Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
- Delete... removes a file. For a file Beeswax uploaded to your own storage you are asked whether to delete it there too; a linked file only loses its link.
New versions
When a file changes, upload a new version instead of a copy, so links and attachments keep working and point at the latest.
- Choose Upload New Version from the file's menu, pick the new file, and note what changed.
- Version History lists the earlier versions, with who replaced them, when, the size and the note. Download one, or Restore it: restoring never loses anything, because the current file is kept as a version first.
- Beeswax keeps the last 10 versions of each file. Archived versions count toward your storage allowance, and administrators can delete an individual version.
- Versions are for files held in Beeswax Storage. Files on your own NAS, Google Drive or OneDrive are managed there, and Beeswax can't version them.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| The bar says "Not connected" | Choose Fix connection (or ask an Owner or Super Admin) and test the connection in the Storage card. Check the storage is online and its details are right. |
| "This project's folder wasn't found" | The folder was renamed or moved on the NAS. Choose Choose folder and pick its new location. |
| A file over 2 GB won't upload | Save it in the project's folder on your own storage and share it from there, or split it. |
| No "Connect your own storage" button | Only Owners, Super Admins and Accounts users can change storage, and it isn't available on the Free plan. |