Paperless-ngx Has a Free Document Management System

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Paperless-ngx is a free, open-source document management system that transforms your physical documents into a searchable online archive.

What Is Paperless-ngx?

Paperless-ngx scans, OCRs, and organizes your documents automatically. Drop a PDF or photo of a document — it extracts text, tags it, and makes it searchable.

Key features:

OCR (extract text from scanned documents)
Full-text search across all documents
Auto-tagging and classification
Correspondent detection (who sent it)
Date detection
Document types
Multi-user with permissions
Email consumption (forward docs to archive)
Mobile-friendly web UI
REST API

Quick Start

mkdir paperless && cd paperless
curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx/main/docker/compose/docker-compose.postgres.yml
curl -o .env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx/main/docker/compose/.env

docker compose up -d

Open http://localhost:8000. Upload documents. They are automatically OCRd, tagged, and searchable.

How It Works

Drop documents into the consumption folder (or upload via web/email)
Paperless OCRs them and extracts text
AI classifies: type, correspondent, tags, date
Document is archived and fully searchable

Auto-Classification

Paperless learns from your corrections:

Correspondents: Detects who sent the document
Document types: Invoice, receipt, contract, letter
Tags: Auto-applies based on content
Dates: Extracts document date

The more you use it, the smarter it gets.

Search

Search across ALL document text:

Full-text search
Filter by date range
Filter by correspondent
Filter by tags
Filter by document type
Sort by relevance, date, or name

Paperless-ngx vs Physical Filing

Feature	Filing Cabinet	Paperless-ngx
Search	Manual	Instant full-text
Space	Physical room	Hard drive
Access	One location	Anywhere (web)
Backup	Fire risk	Cloud backup
Sharing	Photocopy	Link/API
OCR	No	Automatic