> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.anyformat.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Files

> What a file is in anyformat and what happens when you upload one.

A file is the raw input — information without structure yet.

Examples:

* PDFs
* Images and scans
* Multi-page documents

anyformat reads files to understand text, layout, tables, and visual cues. You don't need to configure OCR engines or preprocessing steps.

***

## Supported file formats

| Category     | Formats                                                                            |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| PDF          | `.pdf`                                                                             |
| Documents    | `.doc`, `.docx`, `.txt`, `.html`, `.htm`, `.rtf`, `.odt`, `.ppt`, `.pptx`, `.epub` |
| Spreadsheets | `.xlsx`, `.xls`                                                                    |
| Markdown     | `.md`, `.markdown`                                                                 |
| Images       | `.png`, `.jpg`, `.jpeg`, `.gif`, `.bmp`, `.tiff`                                   |
| Email        | `.eml`, `.msg`                                                                     |
| Audio        | `.mp3`, `.wav`                                                                     |

### Limits

* **Maximum file size:** 20 MB per file
* **Page count:** No hard limit (usage-based billing applies)

***

## What happens when you upload a file

<Steps>
  <Step title="Document reading">
    anyformat reads the document
  </Step>

  <Step title="Page detection">
    Pages are detected
  </Step>

  <Step title="Content analysis">
    Content is analyzed and made searchable
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ready for processing">
    The file is ready to be run through a workflow
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## How files relate to workflows

Files are always processed through [workflows](/concepts/workflows). The workflow defines what to extract; the file provides the raw content.

***

## What's next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Pages" icon="files" href="/concepts/pages">
    How pages work within a file and why page boundaries matter
  </Card>

  <Card title="Usage & Billing" icon="chart-simple" href="/concepts/usage-and-billing">
    How usage is calculated
  </Card>
</CardGroup>