Shared Spaces

Shared Spaces let you collaborate with other people inside a single space. Invite family members, colleagues, or your accountant and control exactly what they can do.

What is a shared space

A shared space works like any other space, but with multiple users. Everyone who has access sees the same documents, categories, tags, and senders inside that space. Each member has a role that controls their permissions.

The person who creates the space is the Owner. Owners can invite others and manage the space.

Shared Spaces is a Premium feature. You need an active Premium plan or trial to create and manage shared spaces.

Create a shared space

1. Go to Settings > Spaces.
2. Click Create space.
3. Pick a name, type, color, and emoji.

Any space you create can be shared. After creation, open the space settings and go to Members to start inviting people.

Invite members

1. Go to Settings > Spaces and select the space.
2. Click Members.
3. Click Invite Member.
4. Enter the email address, optionally a display name, and choose a role.
5. Click Send Invitation.

The invited person receives an email with a link. If they already have a Paperarchive account, they can accept right away. If not, they can sign up first and then accept.

You can cancel a pending invitation at any time from the Members page.

Roles and permissions

Every member of a shared space has one of four roles. The table below shows what each role can do.

Permission	Viewer	Editor	Admin	Owner
View documents	✓	✓	✓	✓
Search documents	✓	✓	✓	✓
Upload documents		✓	✓	✓
Edit document details		✓	✓	✓
Move documents in/out		✓	✓	✓
Delete documents		✓	✓	✓
Invite new members			✓	✓
Change member roles			✓	✓
Remove members			✓	✓
Cancel pending invitations			✓	✓
Edit space settings			✓	✓
Delete the space				✓
Transfer ownership				✓

Owner - Full control. Every space has exactly one owner. Owners cannot leave their own space - they must delete it instead.

Admin - Can manage members and settings, but cannot delete the space or transfer ownership.

Editor - Can view and edit documents, upload new ones, and move documents in and out. Cannot manage members or settings.

Viewer - Read-only access. Can view and search documents but cannot upload, edit, or move anything.

Moving documents

You can move documents between spaces you have access to.

Moving documents into a shared space

Select one or more documents, click Move, and choose the shared space as the target. You need at least Editor permissions in the target space.

Moving documents out of a shared space

Select documents in the shared space, click Move, and choose a personal space or another shared space where you have Editor or higher permissions. Documents that are GoBD-archived cannot be moved.

Who sees what after a move

When you move a document into a shared space, all members can see it (according to their role). When you move a document out to your personal space, other members lose access.

Leaving a shared space

1. Go to Settings > Spaces and select the shared space.
2. Click Members.
3. Click Leave at the bottom of the page.

You will immediately lose access to all documents in that space. If you want to keep specific documents, move them to a personal space before leaving.

Owners cannot leave their own space. To remove a shared space, the owner must delete it.

Free plan members and shared spaces

Shared Spaces is a Premium feature. However, members who are on the Free plan can still be invited to and use a shared space owned by a Premium user:

• The shared space runs on the owner's subscription. Document limits, AI features, and storage are counted against the owner's plan.
• A Free plan user invited to a shared space can view, search, and (if they have the Editor role) edit documents in that shared space.
• The Free plan member's own spaces and documents are still subject to their Free plan limits (100 documents, no AI, no smart search).
• If the Free plan member only uses Paperarchive through shared spaces, they do not need to upgrade.

What happens if the owner cancels their subscription

• Uploads stop: No one can upload new documents to the shared space.
• Documents stay: Existing documents remain accessible in read-only mode.
• Editing stops: Members can no longer edit, move, or delete documents.
• The space still exists: Once the owner reactivates their Premium plan, full access is restored automatically.

Email upload in shared spaces

Each space has its own upload email address. In a shared space, the upload email routes documents directly into the shared space. Only the owner's email address is accepted for email uploads. Members cannot use their own email address to send documents to a shared space via email - they should use the upload button instead.

Tips

• Use shared spaces for household documents, small business paperwork, or projects with external partners.
• Assign the Viewer role to people who only need to look up documents (like an accountant reviewing receipts).
• Assign the Editor role to people who actively add and organize documents.
• Use the Admin role sparingly - only for people who should also manage members.