Managing Documents in the Dashboard

Welcome to your SignNow dashboard! Here, you’ll discover a powerful suite of tools designed to help you manage, organize, and locate your documents with ease. Whether you’re handling a handful of contracts or overseeing hundreds of agreements, the dashboard provides intuitive navigation, robust folder management, and advanced search and filtering options. This guide will walk you through every aspect of document management in your dashboard, ensuring you can work faster and smarter.

Understanding the Dashboard Layout

The SignNow dashboard is thoughtfully organized to streamline your workflow. On the left, you’ll find the main navigation panel, which includes quick access to your Documents, Archive, Templates, Trash, and shared resources. The central area displays your document list, complete with status indicators, signer information, and action buttons. The right-hand panel offers management features such as creating folders, archiving, moving, downloading, deleting, and more. Notifications and user profile controls are conveniently located at the top right.

For example, the Upload Documents button is now prominently placed on the left panel for easy access, while the right panel houses all your document management actions. This layout ensures that uploading, organizing, and acting on documents is always just a click away.

Quick Access: Navigating Document Statuses

The Quick Access section is your shortcut to the most important document statuses. Instantly jump to documents that require your attention or are in a specific state. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Inbox / Waiting for Me: Documents awaiting your signature.
• Outbox / Waiting for Others: Documents you’ve sent out for signature, pending completion.
• Completed: Fully signed documents, ready for download or archiving.
• Drafts: Documents you’re preparing but haven’t sent yet.
• Favorites: Documents you’ve marked for easy access.
• Expiring Soon: Invitations nearing expiration, so you can act before they lapse.
• Shared with Me: Files and templates shared by others, accessible based on your permissions.
• Owned by Me: All documents and templates you own.

Each status is visually distinct, making it easy to scan and select the right category.

Main Folders and Folder Management

Your dashboard includes several main folders that serve as the backbone of your document organization. These folders—Documents, Templates, Archive, Trash, Document Groups, and Document Group Templates—cannot be removed, ensuring you always have a consistent structure.

Within these, you can create custom folders and subfolders to further organize your files. For example, you might create subfolders for each client, project, or year. Right-click on any folder or use the New Folder button to add subfolders. Custom folders can be renamed or deleted, but they cannot be moved to other locations, preserving your organizational hierarchy.

Creating and Organizing Custom Folders

Custom folders are a powerful way to keep your dashboard tidy and tailored to your workflow. To create a new folder, simply click the New Folder button at the top right of your folder list or right-click on an existing folder to add a subfolder. You can name folders anything you like, such as "2024 Contracts" or "HR Onboarding."

Once created, you can drag documents into these folders for better organization. If you need to rename or delete a folder, use the options menu (three dots) next to the folder name. Remember, while you can delete or rename custom folders, you cannot move them to a different parent folder, which helps maintain a clear structure.

Managing Deleted Documents in Trash

When you delete a document or template, it’s not gone forever—at least not right away. Deleted items are moved to the Trash folder, where you can review and restore them if needed. This safety net ensures you never lose important files by accident.

To restore a document, open the Trash folder, select the file, and choose Restore or Restore To from the options menu. If you’re sure you no longer need a file, you can permanently delete it from Trash. Be careful: once a file is permanently deleted, it cannot be recovered.

Filtering and Sorting Your Documents

With hundreds or even thousands of documents, finding the right one quickly is essential. The dashboard offers robust filtering and sorting tools. Filter by status (such as Unfinished, Waiting for Me, Signed), type (Documents, Templates), time (creation or modification date), and ownership (owned by you or shared with you).

Sorting options let you arrange documents by name, date, or recency, in ascending or descending order. You can also toggle between Compact and Detailed views to suit your preference. The refresh button reloads all folders, ensuring you always see the latest updates.

Using Search to Find Documents and Templates

The search bar is your best friend when you need to find a document or template fast. Search by document name, signer’s email, sender’s email, document content (fillable fields), or even by unique document ID. For advanced users, searching by document ID is especially helpful for tracking down specific files.

If your search doesn’t return any results, you’ll be prompted to search the Forms Library for relevant templates, expanding your options. The Text search option is disabled by default to optimize performance, but you can enable it for deeper searches within document content.

Bulk Actions and Multi-Select Options

Save time by performing actions on multiple documents at once. The dashboard allows you to select several documents—even across multiple pages—and apply bulk actions such as merging, resending invites, moving to another folder, or archiving. The available actions depend on the status of the selected documents (for example, you can’t resend invites for expired documents).

To select multiple documents, simply click on each one or use the checkboxes. Once selected, the action toolbar will appear, giving you access to all relevant bulk actions.

Frequently Asked Questions

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