What happens to the files you upload in a chat
What Dropstone keeps from an image or document attached to a conversation, which formats keep the original file and which keep only their text, what happens in a temporary chat, in a shared conversation, and in an export.
Attaching a file to a conversation reads it and keeps enough of it for the conversation to keep using it. What is kept depends on the format, and not every file keeps its original.
What is kept from an upload
- The text inside it. Every document format is converted to text, and that text is stored with the message so a question on turn five can still be answered from a file attached on turn one.
- A small thumbnail, for images only, so the message shows the picture rather than a filename chip, including after a reload.
- The original file itself, for three formats: spreadsheets, images, and Word documents. These are the ones Dropstone can edit in place, and editing needs the original, so it is kept. See Edit an attached Word or Excel file.
A PDF, a presentation, or a plain text file keeps only its text. The file itself is read, converted, and not stored. That is the answer to the question this page exists for.
Where it is kept
Stored originals sit in Dropstone's own file storage, addressed by a key derived from your account. The key is not guessable from a file's identifier, so an uploaded file is reachable only through your account.
A download link is generated when you ask for one and expires shortly afterwards, which is why the download card on an edited file asks for a fresh link each time you click it rather than holding one.
Temporary chats
In an incognito chat the conversation is not saved to your history, but an upload still has to exist while you are using it. It carries a deadline of 24 hours and stops being reachable after it. If Dropstone edits a file there, the card says so plainly:
Temporary chat: deleted in 24 hours. Download it to keep it.
Sharing a conversation
A shared conversation carries the chip and the thumbnail for an attachment, never the file's contents and never a way to reach the stored file. A recipient sees that a document was attached and what it was called; they cannot read it or download it from the share.
Files in an export
The conversation export includes the text Dropstone extracted from each attachment and the thumbnail, not the original file. Files uploaded to a project export as their names and sizes, without their contents.
If you need the file itself, you already have it: it is the one you attached.
Related articles
- Upload files and documentsAttach PDFs, Word documents, Excel workbooks, presentations, CSVs, Markdown, and images to a conversation. Scanned PDFs are read with OCR. Supported formats, limits, and how the content reaches Dropstone.
- Edit an attached Word or Excel fileAttach a Word document or an Excel workbook and ask for the change. Dropstone edits the file you attached, so its formatting, styles, charts, and images survive, and you get a new file back. The original is left untouched.
- Export and delete your dataHow to get a copy of everything Dropstone holds for you, and how to remove it. Conversation export, memory, project files, CLI history, and account deletion, in one place.
- Incognito chatsAn incognito chat writes nothing to your memory: nothing you say or correct is kept, and no summary is made. What Dropstone already knows about you is still available to it, so the work gets the same assistant without leaving a trace.
- Projects and project filesA project groups conversations and files around one piece of work. Upload documents once and every conversation in the project has them. Here is how to create, organize, and use projects in Dropstone Chat.
- Share a conversationShare a Dropstone chat as a read-only copy with a public link, or invite people into the live chat as editors or viewers. What a link shows, how to refresh or stop it, and how sharing differs from inviting.