How It Works
Your documents are scattered across your phone, inbox, hard drive, and filing cabinet. Here's how to bring them all together — use whichever method fits where your files already live.
The Stacks Browser Extension
Capture documents the moment they appear — without thinking about it.
The biggest reason people's document libraries fall behind isn't laziness — it's timing. The extension closes the gap between "I should save this" and it actually being saved.
Detected document
Bank Statement – Chase
June 2025 · PDF
Always save Chase statements →
Automatic detection
When you're on Chase, Amex, Allstate, Amazon, or any page with a PDF, the extension recognizes it and quietly asks: "Save to Stacks?"
One-click save
Click once. The file is downloaded if needed, sent to your Stacks app, and auto-classified. No folders to pick, no thinking required.
Auto-save rules
After your first save on a site, Stacks asks: "Always save Chase statements?" Say yes and it becomes fully automatic — forever.
Smart tagging
When saving, the extension suggests a stack and property: "This looks like: Property: Home — Stack: Utilities." Confirm or edit in one tap.
Download intercept
Downloaded a PDF from your electric company? The extension catches it: "You downloaded: Electric Bill – PG&E. Add to Stacks?"
Never intrusive
No popups, no modals, no blocking UI. Always subtle, always ignorable. Only shows when something looks genuinely worth saving.
How it works in practice
You log into Chase and download your June statement
Extension detects: "Save June 2025 statement?"
You click once. Done forever.
"Stacks automatically saves your documents while you browse."
That single sentence removes the biggest friction in document management.
Drag and drop from Finder
The most direct method — find a file in Finder and drag it straight into Stacks. Works for single files, multi-file selections, or whole folders.
Open Stacks and Finder side by side (use Mission Control or split-screen).
In Finder, select the file or files you want — hold ⌘ to select multiple files, or ⇧ to select a range.
Drag the selection into the Stacks window. Drop it onto a specific stack in the sidebar, or onto the main canvas to create a new one.
The files appear instantly in Stacks. Right-click any of them and choose "Set as Managed" to make them queryable.
Connect Dropbox, Google Drive, or Backblaze
Already storing files in the cloud? Point Stacks at your Dropbox, Google Drive, or Backblaze B2 bucket and it will index everything in place — no downloading, no duplicating.
In Stacks, open Settings → Connected Storage and click "Add Source".
Choose Dropbox, Google Drive, or Backblaze B2 from the list and sign in with your account credentials.
Select which folders or buckets Stacks should watch. You can connect multiple accounts and mix services.
Stacks indexes your cloud files in the background. Right-click any file in the sidebar and choose "Set as Managed" to make it queryable — your files stay in the cloud.
Take photos with your phone
The fastest way to digitize paper documents — receipts, warranty cards, care sheets, anything printed. Your phone camera is already in your pocket.
Open your iPhone or Android camera and photograph the document. For best results, lay it flat on a well-lit surface.
AirDrop or email the photo to your Mac. On iPhone you can also save directly to iCloud Drive.
In Stacks, drag the image into the appropriate stack — for example, your Appliances stack for a warranty card.
Right-click the file and select "Enable OCR" to make the text searchable. Once OCR is done, mark it as Managed to start querying it.
Forward to your Stacks email address
Every Stacks account comes with a personal email address. Forward any email with an attachment — an insurance policy, a bank statement, a contract — directly to that address and it lands in your Stacks automatically.
Open Stacks and find your personal Stacks email address in Settings → My Stacks Email. It looks like you@stacks.app.
Find the email with the attachment you want to save — an insurer's PDF, a scanned invoice, a bank statement download.
Forward that email to your Stacks address. The attachment is extracted automatically and appears in your Stacks inbox within seconds.
Open Stacks, find the file in your inbox stack, drag it into the right stack, and mark it as Managed (right-click → Set as Managed) to make it queryable.
Point Stacks at a folder
Already have a folder full of PDFs on your Mac — years of bank statements, a folder of medical records, a contracts archive? You can add the whole directory to Stacks at once.
In Stacks, click the + button in the sidebar and choose "Add from Folder".
Navigate to the folder you want — for example, ~/Documents/Bank Statements or ~/Desktop/Insurance.
Stacks will import all supported files from that folder and display them in a new stack. Your originals stay exactly where they are.
Select the files you want queryable, right-click, and choose "Set as Managed". You can do all files at once with ⌘A → right-click.
Upload a zip file
Moving documents from another computer, restoring a backup, or received a zip of files from a contractor or accountant? Just drop the zip directly into Stacks.
Download or locate your zip archive — for example, a folder of scanned receipts from a scanner app or an export from another document tool.
Drag the .zip file directly into the Stacks window, or into a specific stack in the sidebar.
Stacks will automatically extract the zip and add all supported files into that stack.
Review the imported files, delete any you don't need, then mark the keepers as Managed for querying.
Supported file types
Stacks can organize any file type. For AI querying, the following formats are supported as Managed Files:
Photo files and scans — enable OCR (right-click → Enable OCR) to make them queryable. See the OCR guide in Docs.
Ready to get organized?
Download Stacks free and start bringing your files together. Your first stack takes less than two minutes to set up.
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