Supported File Formats

Reference list of file formats Vaquill can ingest and search, with notes on OCR and special handling

Vaquill ingests over 50 file formats - the ones that show up in real legal practice. Upload them as-is; the system extracts text, runs OCR where needed, and makes the content searchable across your matter.

Documents (PDF, Word, RTF, TXT, Markdown, HTML)

Format	Notes
PDF	Native and image-only; OCR runs automatically on scanned pages
DOCX	Modern Word format; preserves headings and tracked changes metadata
DOCM	Macro-enabled Word; macros are ignored, text is extracted
DOC	Legacy Word; converted before extraction
DOT, DOTX	Word templates
RTF	Rich Text Format
TXT	Plain text
MD	Markdown
HTML, HTM	Web pages and HTML exports

Spreadsheets (Excel, CSV)

Format	Notes
XLSX	Modern Excel; all sheets ingested
XLSM	Macro-enabled Excel
XLS	Legacy Excel
XLTX, XLTM, XLT	Excel templates
CSV	Tabular data

Presentations (PowerPoint)

Format	Notes
PPTX	Modern PowerPoint; slide content and speaker notes
PPTM	Macro-enabled PowerPoint
PPT	Legacy PowerPoint
POT, POTX	PowerPoint templates

Images (OCR applied automatically)

Format	Notes
PNG	OCR runs automatically
JPG, JPEG	OCR runs automatically
GIF	OCR runs on the first frame
WebP	OCR runs automatically
TIFF, TIF	Multi-page TIFFs supported
BMP	OCR runs automatically
SVG	Text elements extracted

Email (EML, MSG, MBOX, PST)

Format	Notes
EML	Single message export; attachments ingested separately
MSG	Outlook message format
MBOX	Mailbox archive; all messages ingested
PST	Outlook archive; all folders ingested

Attachments within email files are extracted and ingested as separate searchable documents, with a link back to the parent message.

Code and data (source files, JSON, XML)

Format	Notes
PY, JS, TS, JAVA, CPP, GO, RUST	Source code files; useful for IP and code-review matters
JSON, XML	Structured data

Archives (ZIP, TAR, RAR, 7Z)

Format	Notes
ZIP	Contents extracted recursively
TAR, TAR.GZ	Contents extracted recursively
RAR	Contents extracted recursively
7Z	Contents extracted recursively

When you upload an archive, the system extracts and ingests each file inside as a separate searchable document. Folder structure is preserved.

Password-protected files (encrypted PDFs, password-locked archives, protected Office files) cannot be processed automatically. Remove the password before upload, or supply the password via the per-file ingestion options.

OCR for Scanned Documents

For image-based files and scanned PDFs:

• OCR runs automatically on upload
• The resulting text is searchable like any other document
• The original image is preserved; click any citation to see the highlighted passage on the page
• Handwritten content is recognized where legible
• Common OCR artifacts (broken hyphens, mis-recognized characters) are cleaned up automatically

Size and Page Limits

Upload limits vary by plan - see your dashboard or the Subscriptions page for current per-plan caps on file size, page count, and batch size. For very large files or batches, contact support to discuss enterprise ingestion options.

What Happens After Upload

1. Safety scan

   The file is scanned for safety. No untrusted code is executed.

2. Text extraction and OCR

   Text is extracted; OCR runs on image-based content.

3. Indexing

   The document is indexed for search across your matter.

4. Citation detection

   Citations within the document are detected and linked to authorities.

5. Ready for analysis

   The document is available for analysis in any tool.

Upload progress and processing status are visible in the matter document list.

Tips

Group with archives. Upload a ZIP of all documents in a discovery production to preserve folder structure.

Email-to-matter. Forward EML or MSG files to the matter’s unique email address for automatic ingestion (see Email Ingestion).

Re-OCR if needed. If the OCR quality is poor on a scanned document, you can request a re-OCR pass with stricter settings.

Related

Document Search

Search across everything you have uploaded.

Email Ingestion

Forward emails to ingest documents and attachments.

Drive Import

Pull documents directly from Google Drive.