You have hundreds of safety data sheets, client contracts or monthly reports from past years sitting in an archive. The files are sorted into folders by client and month — they just need to make it into the app. Uploading them one by one would take weeks. You can’t simply bulk-paste them from a disk or another system either, because each document needs to know which client it belongs to, what type it is and which period it covers.

Deratix now includes bulk import via a ZIP archive. You pack the files into a single ZIP, upload them all at once, and the app tries to recognise where each document belongs. All you do is check the preview and confirm the import.

Initial screen of the bulk document importDesktop

When it makes sense

Bulk import is most useful when you already have documents prepared somewhere else and want to bring them over without retyping:

Migration from another system — when switching to Deratix with hundreds of files sorted in folders.
SDS archive — all safety data sheets for the materials you use, in one go.
Monthly reports from a client — one ZIP instead of uploading 30 files for a single year.
Site maps — when you have a folder with floor plans of all of a client’s sites.

For a handful of individual documents, it’s faster to upload them directly via the Documents section or in the client detail — that workflow still works exactly as before. ZIP import is an additional option for cases where you’re dealing with dozens or hundreds of files at once.

Folder structure decides the accuracy

The app recognises documents from folder and file names. The better your files are sorted before being zipped, the less you’ll have to fix in the mapping step.

The most precise structure is by client and period:

my-archive.zip
├── ABC Ltd./
│   ├── 2026-03/
│   │   ├── monthly-report.pdf
│   │   └── sds-racumin.pdf
│   └── 2026-02/
│       └── monthly-report.pdf
└── XYZ Inc./
    └── 2026-03/
        └── monthly-report.pdf

From this kind of structure the app recognises:

Client by folder name — matched against your client database. Works without diacritics, without legal form, and tolerates typos.
Period in the year-month format. It also understands entries like “March 2026”, “2026-03” or “03/2026”.
Document type from keywords in the name: safety data sheets, certificates, contracts, maps, insurance, licences, certificates of competence, reports. If the type isn’t recognised, it falls back to “Other” — you can change it in the preview.

If a client has multiple sites and the path contains a street or city name, the app assigns the file to the correct site as well. You keep your own folder naming — there’s nothing to rework, you just need to check that the names roughly match what you have in the database.

Preview before import, not a leap in the dark

After the ZIP is uploaded, the app extracts the archive and prepares a mapping proposal for each file: which client it belongs to, what type it is, and which period it covers. A colour indicator next to each row shows how confident the app is:

Matched — a client match was found and the type was recognised.
Partial — something fits, but at least one item is missing.
Unmatched — the app couldn’t match a client, you’ll need to pick one manually.
Duplicate — a document with the same filename already exists for that client, so the app won’t upload it.

Bulk import card in the Integrations sectionDesktop

That way, you don’t confirm the import blindly. Before saving, you see a list of files with their status: “this will be saved, this needs fixing, this is already in the system.” No “fingers crossed” — you have a clear picture of what’s about to happen before you click Import.

When the system gets it wrong, you fix it in seconds

The heuristic works well on clean archives, but reality is messier. Someone names a folder with an abbreviation, another combines multiple clients in one folder, a third doesn’t include the year in the name. In the preview, you can directly edit the mapping for each file: change the client, the site, the document type, the period, and the visibility. Files can also be dragged with the mouse between clients.

From the company’s point of view, this matters more than the auto-detection itself. The app makes the first pass, you fill in the rest, and you stay in control of how documents are classified.

Bulk import isn’t just for the administrator

Version 0.61.0 introduced a separate permission level for document management. A manager who has this level enabled can use bulk import and the regular upload, and doesn’t have to wait on the administrator. Previously, everything in the Integrations section was tied solely to administrator access.

This is a setting your company manages itself — who gets this level and who doesn’t. Existing roles and access rights remain unchanged; what’s new is the option to extend them to additional people on the team.

A practical example: a disk archive in one afternoon

Imagine you’re taking over a colleague’s work. On the disk there’s a folder called Documents 2024-2025 with 14 subfolders named after clients. Each one contains monthly reports, a few SDS sheets, and in a couple of cases a site floor plan.

You pack the whole folder into a ZIP, open the Integrations section in Deratix, and click the ZIP import card. You upload the ZIP, the app extracts it, and after a few seconds you have 240 rows of mapping proposals in front of you.

Most of them are green — clients matched, types are right, periods too. About 30 rows are orange — you need to fill in the period or check the client. A handful of files are flagged as “duplicate” — you already have those in the system, the app won’t push them through. You go through the orange rows, fix what’s needed, and confirm the import.

A few minutes later you have an archive ready in the app that would have taken days to handle manually.