A User’s Guide to Adding Content

Storing your files and folders securely in Egnyte allows you to access content from anywhere using any device. This article will walk you through the various ways a standard user can upload content to the Egnyte cloud.  

WebUI

Desktop App

Mobile Device

More Options

WebUI

Drag and Drop

You can drag files and folders from your desktop to Egnyte in just a few steps:

1. Navigate to a folder on Egnyte where you want to add content.
2. Click and hold the file or folder on your desktop that you want to add, then drag to the Egnyte Connect Web UI.
3. ‘Drop’ the content in the destination folder. Larger files may take some time.
   
   

Choose Files from your Computer

Add files and folders to Egnyte Connect from your desktop in just a few steps:

1. Navigate to the folder in the Egnyte Connect Web UI where you’ll add new content.
2. Click Upload.
   
   
   
3. Click Choose Files.
   
4. Select the files or folders you’d like to add.
5. Click Open. Done!

Considerations:

• For migrations of more than 50 GB from on-premises servers, we recommend using Migration App.
• While Web UI supports drag and drop for up to 100 GB, it isn't recommended for projects over 50 GB or a few hundred files.
• If there are errors, you can see them in the UI, but you'll need to scroll through a long list of files to identify them, and there's no way to export the list.
• If your computer goes to sleep in the middle of an upload, the upload will fail.
• There are file size limitations based on your Egnyte plan (contact your Egnyte account administrator for details).
• Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge allow you to drag and drop files and folders.
• Safari allows you to drag and drop files starting with version 6.
• Internet Explorer allows you to drag and drop files starting with version 10.
• You can not drag and drop empty folders to Egnyte. Your account Admin has a couple of different options for this, should you need this functionality. Refer to the following knowledge base articles: FTP Overview or Using Migration App to Migrate from On-Premises Sources.

Egnyte Desktop App

You can use Egnyte's Desktop App to move your content to the Egnyte cloud:

1. From File Explorer on a PC or Finder on a Mac, locate the files or folders you would like to add, highlight your content, then right-click and select Copy.
2. Staying in File Explorer or Finder, navigate to the destination folder on Egnyte Connect.
3. Right-click inside the destination folder, and select Paste.
   

Egnyte also offers the Connected folder feature to connect a local folder with Egnyte folder and upload content.

Considerations:

• Uploading files creates a temporary storage space on your local machine of 2X the amount of data being copied. So if you want to upload 10 GB of data, you need 20 GB of free space: 10 GB to store the files and 10 GB for the upload cache.  Once the upload is finished, the cache is cleared.
• There is a recommended upload maximum of 40-50 GB of data at once. This isn't a hard limit, but uploading larger data sets will have various negative implications, such as causing other applications to crash.
• Larger uploads will take longer, and therefore may be impacted by your local machine's power save operations. If the machine is set to power down before an upload is finished, you may never be able to fully complete it.
• If there are errors, you can see them in the UI, but you'll need to scroll through a long list of files to identify them, and there's no way to export the list or to generate a log.
• If your computer goes to sleep in the middle of an upload, the upload will fail.
• There are file size limitations based on your Egnyte plan (contact your Egnyte account administrator for details).
• For migrations of more than 50 GB from on-premises servers, we recommend using Migration App.

Mobile Devices

Content can be uploaded either directly from the Egnyte mobile app or shared from a third-party app.

This section of the article outlines the upload process for both iOS and Android. The screenshots below show the interfaces for both iOS (left) and Android (right).

Uploading Content from the Egnyte Mobile App

Photos, videos, PDFs, and other supported file types can be uploaded from a mobile device to an Egnyte account using the steps below.

1. Launch the Egnyte mobile app.
2. Navigate to the folder where the content should be uploaded.
3. Tap the floating + Create or upload button.
    
4. Select the appropriate content upload option:
   iOS Options include:
   • New folder - Creates a new folder within the current Egnyte directory for organizing files and subfolders.
   • Upload photo or video – Allows selection of existing photos or videos from the device library for upload to Egnyte.
   • Take photo or video – Captures a new photo or video using the device’s camera and uploads it directly to the selected folder.
   • Photos from specific location – Finds photos from a particular location within the device’s Photos library and uploads them to a selected folder.
     Scan document – Uses the camera to capture a physical document. The scanned file is automatically converted into a high-quality PDF.
   • Extract text – Extracts text from a captured or uploaded image using Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The recognized text can be saved or copied for later use.
   • New text file – Creates a new plain text (.txt) file within the app.
   • New Project Folder - Creates a folder marked as a Project in Egnyte, with project-specific metadata (such as name, ID, and status) automatically applied for easier tracking
   • New URL – Saves a web link (URL) as a shortcut file inside Egnyte. Selecting the shortcut opens the linked webpage in a browser.
   • Import From... – Imports files from other applications or storage locations on the device via the iOS Files app.
   • New file from template – Generates a new file based on a pre-defined company template stored in Egnyte, typically used for standardized documents such as forms or reports.
   • New folder from template – Creates a new folder structure based on a pre-defined company template stored in Egnyte, typically used for standardized project or client setups.
   • New project from template – Creates a new project folder using a designated project template, automatically including predefined folders, permissions, and structure.
   
   Android Options include:
   • Create: 
     • New Folder - Creates a new folder within the current Egnyte directory for organizing files and subfolders.
     • New Photos – Captures a new photo using the device’s camera and uploads it to Egnyte.
     • New Videos – Records a new video using the device’s camera and uploads it to Egnyte.
     • New Project Folder - Creates a folder marked as a Project in Egnyte, with project-specific metadata (such as name, ID, and status) automatically applied for easier tracking.
     • New URL – Creates a shortcut file containing a web link (URL). Opening the shortcut launches the linked page in a browser.
     • New Text File – Creates a new plain text (.txt) file within the app. 
     • From Templates:
       
       • File Templates - Generates a new file based on a pre-defined company template stored in Egnyte, typically used for standardized documents such as forms or reports.
       • Folder Templates - Creates a new folder structure based on a pre-defined company template stored in Egnyte, typically used for standardized project or client setups
   • Upload: 
     • Files – Uploads one or more files stored on the device.
     • Existing Photos & Videos – Uploads photos or videos already stored on the device.
     • Geo-tagged Photos – Finds photos from a particular location within the device’s Photos library and uploads them to a selected folder.
     • Scan Documents – Uses the camera to capture a scan of a physical document, saving the result as a high-quality PDF.
     • Voice Recording – Records audio through the device’s microphone and uploads it as an audio file to the selected folder.
      
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upload. The next steps will vary based on the selected option - whether uploading an existing file from the device or cloud storage, or creating new content such as a scanned document or a photo taken within the app. On iOS, for example, files can also be selected from other connected cloud drives via the Files app.

Uploading Content from Third-Party Apps

1. Open the third-party app and select the files to upload (for example, from the Gallery or Photos app).
2. Tap the Share button.
    
3. Select Egnyte from the list of available apps.
    
4. Navigate to the desired destination folder in Egnyte.
5. Tap Upload to begin the upload process.
    

Uploading Large Batches of Files on Mobile

There is no enforced limit on the number of files that can be uploaded at once in either the iOS or Android app. However, uploading more than 200 files in a single batch may affect performance. To ensure a smoother experience, it is recommended to upload large file sets in smaller batches of fewer than 200 files.

On Android devices, a warning will be displayed if a selected batch exceeds 200 files, advising that smaller batches may help maintain performance.

More Options

Above are just a few ways you can add content to Egnyte.  

Learn about more ways to add your files and folders to Egnyte in these knowledge base articles:

• How to add content to Egnyte using Outlook
• How to add content with FTP (only for Admin users)
• Using Migration App to Migrate from On-Premises Sources (only for Admin users)

For more complex data migrations or larger content uploads, you should engage your Egnyte Admin. The knowledge base article An Admin's Guide to Choosing a Migration Method can provide guidance.