SEARCHABLE PAPERWORK
What is Paperless-ngx?
Paperless-ngx is self-hosted document management software. It takes scanned or digital paperwork, extracts text with OCR, and makes the archive searchable so you can find documents by content rather than by remembering filenames.
What kinds of documents suit it?
Invoices, statements, receipts, letters, warranties, insurance documents, tax records and other paperwork are common examples. You can import files manually, place them in a watched folder or ingest documents from configured email workflows.
How does OCR work?
Paperless-ngx uses OCRmyPDF and Tesseract for text recognition. Choosing the right OCR language improves results, and good scans still matter. Faint text, skewed pages and poor phone photos can reduce recognition quality.
What does it need to run?
The recommended Docker Compose route requires Docker and Docker Compose. Paperless-ngx also needs a Redis-compatible message broker such as Valkey or Redis, and supports SQLite, PostgreSQL or MariaDB. For new installations, its current documentation recommends PostgreSQL.
Can it process Office files?
Yes, optionally. Paperless-ngx can use Apache Tika and Gotenberg to parse and convert formats such as DOC, XLSX, ODT and email files. These are extra services rather than part of the basic OCR path.
Does it use AI?
Optional LLM features exist, but they are disabled by default. Built-in tag and correspondent suggestions use a local non-LLM model. If you enable LLM features, document content goes to whichever AI backend you configure, which can be local or remote.
Start with copies
Import a small batch of documents first. Check OCR quality, tags, naming and export before trusting the system with your only copy of important paperwork.
Go deeper
- What hardware does Paperless-ngx need?
- Paperless-ngx vs Google Drive and cloud folders
- How to build a searchable home document archive
Next: what hardware does Paperless-ngx need? or build a practical document archive.
Source: Paperless-ngx setup documentation.