Is PaperSweep secure? Are my documents safe?
Yes. Documents are transmitted over HTTPS and processed temporarily on EU servers. PaperSweep deletes all uploaded files and OCR results within 2 hours of processing. No personal data, filenames, or document content is ever retained. No human ever accesses your files; processing is fully automated.
Does PaperSweep store my documents permanently?
No. Your documents and their OCR text are automatically deleted within 2 hours of the job completing. Nothing else is retained — no filenames, no document content, no extracted text, no usage counters.
Do I need to create an account or give my email to use PaperSweep?
No. PaperSweep requires no account, no email address, and no password — ever. You can start processing documents immediately with no sign-up of any kind.
What document types can PaperSweep recognise?
PaperSweep classifies documents into 16 categories: electricity invoice, water invoice, gas invoice, internet/telecom invoice, tax document, insurance policy, restaurant bill, medical document, bank statement, payslip, contract, general invoice, letter/official correspondence, kids drawing, photo, and other. For documents that don't match any category, the AI suggests a descriptive label.
What languages does PaperSweep support?
PaperSweep's OCR and classification engine handles German, English, French, Italian and other European languages. The user interface is available in all four languages and can be switched at any time. The output ZIP folder names also follow the selected language.
How much does PaperSweep cost?
PaperSweep is completely free to use — no account, no credits, no paywall. If you find it useful and want to help cover hosting and API costs, voluntary donations are welcome but never required.
Can I upload multiple PDF files at once?
Yes. You can select multiple PDF files at once from the file picker (use Cmd+A or Ctrl+A to select all files in a folder). PaperSweep merges them into a single processing job and treats each original file as a separate document group. You can also upload a single large PDF that already contains multiple documents.
What is the maximum file size or page count I can upload?
The maximum combined upload size is 100 MB and the maximum page count is 300 pages per job. These limits apply to the total across all selected files.
Where is my data processed? Is PaperSweep GDPR compliant?
Yes, PaperSweep is GDPR compliant. Document images are processed by our AI engine on EU-based servers. PaperSweep itself runs on a European VPS. No data is sent to US-based AI providers. There are no third-party tracking scripts, analytics tools, or advertising networks on the site.
What is the PDF sanitization feature?
PDF sanitization rebuilds a PDF from scratch using only the text extracted by OCR, removing all embedded scripts, macros, JavaScript, and potentially malicious content. The result is a clean, safe PDF with selectable text. Use it when you receive a suspicious PDF from an unknown source. You can access it via the "Sanitize a suspicious PDF" link on the home page.