Troubleshooting
I uploaded it to the wrong file
A document in the wrong place: what to do, in what order, and what not to touch.
It happens to everyone and is rarely serious, but the order in which you fix it does matter — especially when the wrong file belongs to another client or supplier, which is when it stops being a slip and becomes something worth handling properly.
What to do, in this order
- 1
Check who could have seen it
The log says whether anyone opened it between upload and now. That comes first, not last.
- 2
Move it rather than deleting and re-uploading
Moving keeps the trail; delete-and-resubmit creates a new document with no history and consumes again.
- 3
Check whether it triggered anything
A document in a file may have closed a request or fired a rule.
- 4
And note it if it had consequences
If someone outside actually saw it, that gets recorded: it is information, not a confession.
Important
The first step is the one hardly anyone takes and the only one that changes the response. If the document sat ten minutes in another client's file and nobody opened it, it is a slip; if someone from that other company viewed it, this is no longer a filing problem — it is access to documentation that was not theirs, and that is managed, not glossed over.
What not to do
| Not this | Why |
|---|---|
| Delete it and carry on as if nothing happened | If someone saw it, the trail is the only thing that explains what occurred |
| Re-upload without moving the original | Two copies in two places and one of them is surplus |
| Leave it "because nobody looks there anyway" | Someone does: files get audited and shared |
| Fix it on Monday | The longer it sits, the more people could have seen it |
Watch out
The serious case is uploading one client's documentation into another's file. It is not just a filing error: it is a third party's documentation visible to someone who should not see it. If that happens, beyond moving it, check who accessed it and assess whether anyone must be told — and that assessment is not made by whoever slipped, it is made by an administrator.
How it happens less
Worth knowing
If the wrong document closed a request that was still open, reopen it when moving: otherwise the third party believes they have delivered and you keep waiting for something that will never arrive.
›Is anything lost when moving?
No: it keeps its history, its date and who uploaded it.
›What if someone already signed it there?
Then do not simply move it: check first, because the signature relates to that send.
›Does moving a document consume?
Moving is not uploading. What consumes is re-uploading, which is why moving is better.
A real case
The situation
Someone uploads a contract into another client's file and deletes it to re-upload.
What you do
- Checks first who accessed it and moves the document instead of deleting
What you get
Keeps the full trail and confirms nobody outside ever saw it.
The situation
The document goes into another supplier's file.
What you do
- Moves it before anyone approves it
What you get
The wrong file never counts it.
The situation
It had already been approved in the wrong place.
What you do
- Moves it and reviews the status of both files
What you get
Both end up reflecting reality.
The situation
It is uploaded to another client's file.
What you do
- Withdraws it and warns whoever could have seen it
What you get
Improper access is cut off as soon as possible.
The situation
It is deleted rather than moved and the trail is lost.
What you do
- Moves instead of deleting and re-uploading
What you get
The document's history survives the move.
The situation
Nobody knows whether the supplier sent it twice.
What you do
- Checks who provided it and when
What you get
An internal error is told apart from a duplicate from outside.
This article answers
- i uploaded a document to the wrong place
- move a document to another file
- document in the wrong project
- delete and re-upload a file