Ask without a document when your question can be answered generically. Consider uploading only when the task depends on that document’s actual contents and you have reviewed permission, disclosure and retention requirements. Do not upload customer or private material for this workflow.
Separate general guidance from document analysis
The supplied Perplexity Help Center passage says uploads support document-based tasks such as summarising, analysing code or translating. That establishes a reason to consider a file for content-specific work, not a reason to attach one to every question.
“What should a project summary contain?” is a general question. “Which milestones appear in this public project report?” depends on the report. Without the document, do not invite the system to guess its contents or treat a generic answer as a document-specific finding.
Follow a document-necessity tree
Use this editorial decision tree:
- Does the answer require exact document content? If no, ask a general question without attaching a file.
- Is the material public or synthetic and permitted for this use? If no or uncertain, stop and seek an approved alternative.
- Would a short, non-sensitive passage suffice? If yes, consider providing only that passage after the same disclosure review. Pasted text is still disclosure.
- Does the full document add essential context? If yes, identify exactly which sections the task needs.
- Are retention and sharing implications acceptable under your policy? If unresolved, do not upload.
Minimisation is not a guarantee of safety. Removing names may leave identifying context, and a public document can still raise questions about permitted reuse.
Compare two hypothetical requests
An Indian student wants a checklist for writing a scholarship statement. A generic question is sufficient; no personal application is needed.
Separately, a fictional researcher wants to extract dates from a permitted, six-page public exhibition programme. The dates are document-specific. They could provide the relevant public page rather than an unrelated folder of notes.
Evaluate necessity by asking whether removing the file changes the answer from verifiable extraction into guesswork. Evaluate output quality by matching each extracted date to its location in the accessible programme. These are hypothetical examples, not hands-on tests.
Make the retention decision before disclosure
The supplied passage states that uploaded files are retained for 30 days, or seven days for Enterprise Pro, then automatically removed. Verify current applicability before relying on those periods; do not infer that every related data category follows the same lifecycle.
If comparing access in the AI tools catalog, check access format and save terms before buying. Marketplace account, code or token offers are not proof of official subscription equivalence or an Enterprise Pro retention entitlement.
Sources and scope
Source material checked 29 October 2026; features/policies may change. The supplied indexed Perplexity question-versus-upload guidance, marked modified 2 October 2026, establishes the stated document tasks and file-retention periods. The decision tree, minimisation questions and scenarios are editorial advice.