How to search inside a folder of PDFs without uploading them

You have a folder of PDFs: contracts, statements, papers, manuals. You need one sentence that you know is in there somewhere. Windows search finds file names, not answers. Opening each file and pressing Ctrl+F works for five files, not fifty.

The tools that promise to "chat with your documents" mostly work the same way: you upload the files, a server reads them, and the answer comes back. For a lease, a medical letter or a company's accounts, that's a lot to hand to a stranger's server.

What "without uploading" actually means

A web page can read a file you give it without sending it anywhere. When you choose a folder in your browser, the page receives the files' contents in memory, on your computer. Whether anything then leaves depends entirely on what the page's code does next.

AskFolder is built so that nothing does. It reads each file in the browser tab, cuts the text into passages that remember their page or line, and builds its search index right there. The page is served with a security policy that only lets it load its own files and forbids it from sending data anywhere, so even a mistake in our code couldn't upload a document.

You can check this yourself: open your browser's developer tools, go to the Network tab, then ask a question. No request leaves.

How to do it

1. Open askfolder.com/app.
2. Choose a folder, or drop one anywhere on the page. PDF, Word (.docx), text, Markdown, CSV and HTML files are read; anything else is listed, never silently skipped.
3. Ask in plain words: "when can either party end the lease", "total amount due", "who signed the March invoice".
4. Each answer shows the passage, the file and the page, with the words that matched highlighted. Open it to read the passage in place, or copy it with its citation.

Words and meaning

Search that only matches exact words misses "terminate" when you typed "end". AskFolder searches two ways at once: by your words, forgiving typos, and by meaning, with a small language model that runs inside your browser. The two lists are merged, so a passage that says "either party may give sixty days' notice" still answers "how do I get out of the contract".

What it doesn't do

It finds passages; it doesn't write you an essay or give legal advice. Every answer is a quote from your own files with its page, so you can check it in seconds.

How much it costs

Free reads folders of up to 50 files, plus the first 3 scanned pages or photos in each folder. AskFolder Pro reads folders of any size, every scan and photo, and keeps folders saved in your browser so they open instantly next time. Either way, nothing is uploaded and you don't need an account.