File Request

File Request lets you ask a contact to upload documents directly to their record in Levitate. You send a request link through an email merge field, and the contact uploads files through a branded drag-and-drop page — no login or account required. Uploaded files land on the contact's Files tab, appear in their activity timeline, and trigger a notification to you as the requester.

Note: File Request requires both the Surveys and Files features to be enabled on your account. If you don't see this option, contact Levitate Support to confirm your account configuration.

Note: File Request is intentionally not enabled by default for financial-industry accounts that need to archive activity for compliance. Because files arrive through a request link rather than as an email attachment, they don't cross your archiving protocol's mail-server journaling the way an attachment would — so they wouldn't be captured for regulatory recordkeeping (e.g., SEC 17a-4, FINRA 4511). Accounts that need archiving should continue collecting documents as email attachments, which are captured by your existing archiving protocol (Global Relay, Smarsh, Mimecast, etc.). If your account doesn't need to archive activity for compliance, File Request can still be turned on — contact Levitate Support.

Sending a File Request

File requests are sent using a merge field inside any email you compose in Levitate.

1. Open the email composer and write your message to the contact.
2. In the body of the email, insert the {{File Request}} merge field where you want the upload link to appear. The merge field resolves to a personalized link for each recipient.
3. Send the email as usual.

Note: New file requests expire after 30 days by default. The contact will not be able to upload files after the link expires.

Link Expiration

Each contact's file request link has its own expiration window. The window is set for your account and is 30 days by default. It is counted from the moment that contact's link is created, not from the date the request was first scheduled or last sent. This applies to links sent in bulk email, links generated automatically for text messages, and standalone request links created for a single contact. Two contacts on the same send can therefore have links that expire on different dates.

If a file request has an explicit expiry date, the link follows that date instead of the account's window.

Reminders do not extend a link's expiration. A reminder is not sent if the file request has been disabled or its explicit expiry date has passed.

A contact who opens a link after it has expired still sees your account's logo, header, and footer on the page, along with the "Files Unavailable" message described in The Contact's Upload Experience.

Sending via Text Message

File-request links can also be delivered by text message — as a one-off direct message, as a step inside an automated sequence, or as an automatic follow-up reminder for contacts who haven't uploaded yet.

One-Off Text Messages

When composing a direct text message to a contact, insert the {{File Request}} merge field anywhere in the message body. The merge field resolves to a personalized upload link for that contact, exactly as it does in an email. The contact taps the link and lands on the same branded drag-and-drop upload page.

Automated Text Sequences

To request files as part of a workflow, add a text message step to an automation and include the {{File Request}} merge field in that step's message body. When the automation runs for a contact, it sends a text containing their unique upload link. This lets you collect documents as part of onboarding flows, renewal sequences, or any other multi-step process without manual follow-up.

Text Campaigns

You can include the {{File Request}} merge field in a text campaign to collect documents from multiple contacts in a single send. Each recipient receives their own unique upload link, the same way they would in an email campaign.

Text Message Reminders

Levitate can automatically send a follow-up text to any contact who received a file-request link but has not yet completed their upload. Reminders are sent only during your account's configured business hours, so contacts won't receive texts in the middle of the night or on days your office is closed.

Note: Text message reminders use the same business-hours window set in your account settings. If your business hours are not configured, confirm your settings with Levitate Support before enabling reminders.

File Requests in Automations

An automation email step or text step that includes the {{request files}} merge field uses one shared file request. Levitate creates the request when you publish the automation, and every send from that step reuses it.

Text steps and email fallback

If a text step has an email fallback, the fallback email shares the text step's file request. It does not get a separate one.

Who the request belongs to

• Shared with: all users, because any user can send the step.
• Owned by: the author of the template, if that person can request files. Otherwise the request is account-wide.
• Upload notifications: go to the sender of the message.

Republishing an automation

When you republish an automation, Levitate updates the name and description of its file requests.

Catalog templates

Templates in the catalog do not have a file request of their own. When a template is used in your account, your account's copy gets its own file request.

Requirements

Files must be enabled for your account to publish an automation that uses the {{request files}} merge field. If Files is disabled, publishing fails.

Note: Automations that were already in progress keep creating a separate file request for each send until they finish.

Requesting Files Directly from a Contact

You can also start a file request from a contact's profile without composing a full email. Open the contact, click the Files tab, and use the Request Files button. This is handy when you want to ask for documents from one specific contact rather than as part of a larger email send.

When the contact uploads files to a request created this way, you receive an email notification as the requester.

Files Tab Layout

A contact's Files tab is split into sections. Each section shows a count and has its own header actions, and a section appears only when it has content:

• Requests — file requests sent to the contact, including requests still waiting on an upload. Header actions: Show filter and Request Files.
• Sent to {contact name} — files you have sent to the contact. Header action: Send Files.
• Other files — every other file on the contact. When the contact has no requests, this section is named Received files.

A contact with no files and no requests shows the empty-state message. Long sections show 3 rows at a time; click Show all to see every row and Show fewer to collapse the section again.

Note: The Requests section is on by default for accounts with both the Files and Surveys features enabled, for users who have permission to view files.

Request cards

Each file request appears as a card with:

• Title — the title you entered when you sent the request. Requests without a title show Files Requested.
• New pill — shown on requests sent in the last 7 days.
• Details line — the Requested date, the Expires date, and who it was Sent by.
• State pill — Waiting on upload until the contact uploads, then File uploaded.

Files the contact uploaded are grouped under the request they answered. Click the N uploaded files strip on a card to open a table of those files with Filename, Date, and Size columns.

Filtering and sorting requests

Click Show filter in the Requests section to choose which requests are listed:

• Open requests (the default)
• Waiting on upload

Requests are ordered with new requests first, then requests waiting on an upload, then requests that have received files. Within each group, the request with the soonest due date comes first.

Setting an upload deadline

The Request Files dialog has an optional Accepts uploads until date. It is prefilled with your account's request-link window, which is 30 days by default, and you can change it before you continue. See Link Expiration for how expiration works.

Uploading Files to a Contact

You can add files to a contact's record yourself, without sending a request or an email. Open the contact, click the Files tab, and click Upload Files. The button is the first one in the row of actions at the top of the tab, ahead of Send Files and Request Files.

1. In the Upload Files dialog, drag files onto the drop area or click to browse your device.
2. Click Upload.

Each file can be up to 20 MB, and a single upload can total up to 20 MB. Files over the limit are removed from your selection, and a message tells you so.

Once the upload finishes, the files appear on the tab right away with Upload in the Source column and your name as the uploader. Uploading files this way does not create a note, a timeline entry, a Keep in Touch interaction, or an update in your connected CRM. To remove an uploaded file, use the delete button on its row, as described in Deleting Files.

Note: Upload Files requires the Files feature to be enabled on your account and permission to add files. If you don't have that permission, the button doesn't appear.

The Send Files button always opens the upload dialog for new files to send; see Send Files as a Link.

File Request via Signature Templates

When you save a signature template, Levitate automatically creates a paired file-request survey for it. That survey carries a reusable short link that never expires — you can share it as many times as you need without it going stale.

To deliver a personalized upload URL through a signature template, insert the {{File Request}} merge field anywhere in the template body. When an email is sent using that template, the merge field resolves to each recipient's individual upload URL — every contact gets their own unique link even though the template is shared.

Embedding the merge field in a signature template

1. Open the signature template editor.
2. Place your cursor where you want the upload link to appear in the template body.
3. Insert the {{File Request}} merge field.
4. Save the template. If no file-request survey exists for this template yet, Levitate creates one automatically when you save.
5. Compose an email using the template and send it. Each recipient's copy of the email contains their own unique upload URL in place of the merge field.

The reusable short link tied to the template is also available separately — useful for sharing in places where per-recipient personalization isn't needed, such as a support reply or a static webpage.

Note: This feature requires Signature Templates to be enabled on your account. Contact your Success Manager if Signature Templates are not available.

The Contact's Upload Experience

When a contact clicks the link in your email, they are taken to a branded drag-and-drop upload page. They can drag files onto the page or click to browse their device, then submit the upload — no Levitate account is required.

Note: The upload page is served from files.levitate.ai. If your contacts' IT or email security systems block unknown domains, you may need to ask them to whitelist files.levitate.ai so the link resolves correctly.

If a contact returns to the same link after already uploading, the page shows the files they previously submitted rather than an empty form. This lets them review what they've already sent without accidentally uploading duplicates.

Note: If a contact opens a link that has expired or is no longer available, the page displays a "Files Unavailable" header so they know the request can no longer accept uploads.

File Size and Type Limits

Uploads through a file request link are subject to these limits:

• File size: 25 MB per file
• Number of files: up to 50 per request link
• Supported formats: PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, TXT, MD, JPG, PNG, HEIC

The 25 MB limit applies to each file on its own rather than to the submission as a whole, so a contact can send many separate 25 MB documents through the same link. The file count is cumulative across visits — if a contact uploads 30 files, closes the page, and returns later, they can add 20 more before reaching the limit.

If a contact selects a file that is too large, the upload page rejects that one file by name and leaves the rest of their selection intact. Files in a format that isn't supported can't be added at all.

The error reads "<file name> exceeds the 25 MB limit", for example "scan.pdf exceeds the 25 MB limit". Each file is also checked by its file extension. A file whose browser doesn't report a file type, which happens with some HEIC photos, is still accepted if it ends in a supported extension such as .heic or .pdf.

HEIC and HEIF photos, the format iPhones use, are accepted. On a computer, drop them onto the page or switch the file picker to All files to choose them. On an iPhone, the photo picker converts photos to JPEG as the contact selects them. HEIC and HEIF photos are saved to the contact's Files tab, but Levitate doesn't automatically identify what kind of document they are.

Note: These limits apply to contacts uploading through a file request link. Different limits apply when you send files out to a contact — see Send Files as a Link.

Where Uploaded Files Appear

Once a contact submits files, those files are available in three places:

• Contact's Files tab — the uploaded files are attached directly to the contact record and accessible from the Files tab on their profile.
• Activity timeline — a timeline entry is created for the file request submission showing the names and sizes of each uploaded file. Draft responses (files uploaded but not yet submitted) also appear on the timeline.
• Requester notification — the person who sent the file request receives a notification when the contact completes the upload, so you know when documents are ready to review.

The requester notification goes to the Levitate user who sent the email containing the file request link. If an automation sends the email on behalf of another user, the notification goes to that user.

Files Sent from the Client Portal

Contacts who use your Client Portal can send you files that aren't an answer to a file request. The full portal dashboard has a Send Something Else section below the requests, with a drop zone. The contact drags files onto it or clicks to browse their device. The drop zone doesn't appear in the views that open on a single request or a single share; see What the Portal Opens To.

Each file can be up to 20 MB. The drop zone accepts the same formats as a file request: PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, TXT, MD, JPG, PNG, and HEIC.

Files a contact sends this way are added to the contact's Files tab as received files, with Client Portal in the Source column. They also appear in the Your Documents list in the portal right away, without the contact refreshing the page.

Note: Levitate doesn't send you a notification when a contact sends a file from the portal drop zone, so check the contact's Files tab for new files. Contacts can delete files they sent from the portal, but not files you shared with them; see What Your Documents Lists.

What the Portal Opens To

A contact who signs in to the Client Portal from a link in your email lands on the item that link was for, instead of the full dashboard.

• From a file request link: the portal opens on that request's card alone, with a primary View all requests and files button that opens the full dashboard.
• From a shared-file download link: the portal opens on that share's files. The page shows Shared files, the share's title, who shared it ("Shared by" followed by the name of whoever created the link, or "your advisor" when there is no name), your message, an "Available until" date, and a Download button for each file. A line tells the contact they can download the files below and that the files are also listed under Your Documents.

Clicking View all requests and files opens the full dashboard. The portal remembers that choice when the contact reloads the page. On the full dashboard, the request the contact's link was for is listed first and tagged "From your email". The drop zone for files that aren't an answer to a request sits in a Send Something Else section below the requests.

The portal opens on the full dashboard instead when the link can't be looked up or has expired, when the request is closed, or when the link isn't one of the contact's links. For a shared-file link, the portal also opens on the full dashboard when it can't find that share among the contact's most recent 50 shared-file pages of results.

Filtering Your Documents

The Your Documents section of the Client Portal has a dropdown next to the section title for filtering the list. It has three options:

• All documents (the default)
• My uploads
• Shared with me

The list shows only the files that match the selected filter. A spinner appears in the list while a filter loads, and the list returns to showing 5 rows whenever the filter changes. If no files match, the list shows a message for that filter:

• All documents: "Nothing here yet."
• My uploads: "You haven't uploaded any documents yet."
• Shared with me: "Nothing has been shared with you yet."

Both lists load when the contact opens the portal, so switching between filters doesn't load anything new.

What Your Documents Lists

The Your Documents list combines two kinds of files:

• Files you shared through links. Each file on each link is its own row, so a file shared on two links appears twice and each row downloads through its own link. The row's details read "First Last (advisor) · date · size · link title". When Levitate sent the link automatically, the name is replaced by "Your advisor".
• Files the contact uploaded. The row's details read "You · date · size".

The All documents view shows both kinds together, newest first. Click Load more to see older files. While more files are still available a Show more control appears; once every file has loaded, a Show all N control appears to expand the whole list.

If one of the two lists can't be loaded, the files that did load still appear, along with the message "Some of your files could not be loaded. Please refresh and try again." If neither list loads, the portal shows its full error message instead.

Note: Files from share links that have expired are not listed. Files you sent as plain email or text message attachments, rather than as download links, are not listed either.

Downloading shared files

If the link a file was shared through expires or is revoked after the contact opened the portal, downloading that file shows "This file is no longer available." and the list refreshes.

Contacts deleting their uploads

A contact can delete a file they uploaded themselves. Files you shared with them can't be deleted from the portal. The delete button appears only on the contact's own uploads.

1. The contact clicks the delete button on the upload's row.
2. A Delete file? confirmation opens. It warns that the file will be removed from their portal, will no longer be available to you, and that this can't be undone.
3. The contact confirms. A "<file name> was deleted." message appears and the list refreshes.

If the file was already deleted, for example from another browser tab, the message reads "<file name> was already deleted." and the list refreshes.

Note: A contact can delete an upload even if you have already reviewed or accepted it, and you can't recover it afterward.

Deleting Files

To delete a file from a contact's record, open the contact's Files tab, locate the file, and click the delete button on its row. Both Received files (uploaded by the contact) and Sent files (delivered to the contact) have a delete button available. A confirmation dialog appears — click Delete to confirm or Cancel to keep the file.

If the file is in use elsewhere in Levitate, the confirmation dialog includes a warning before you confirm: deleting removes only the link between the file and this contact record — the file itself stays on Levitate's servers and remains accessible from any other contact it is associated with.

FAQs

Q: Can I send a file request to multiple contacts at once?

A: Yes. Because the file request is delivered via a merge field in an email, you can include the {{File Request}} merge field in a bulk or campaign email. Each contact receives a unique link tied to their own record.

Q: What happens if the file request link expires?

A: After the 30-day default expiration period, the link is no longer active and the contact cannot upload files through it. If you still need documents from the contact, send a new email with a fresh {{File Request}} merge field.

Q: Can I see if a contact started uploading but didn't finish?

A: Yes. Draft responses — where a contact has interacted with the upload page but has not yet completed the submission — appear on the contact's activity timeline so you can follow up if needed.

Q: Where do I go to review uploaded files?

A: Navigate to the contact's profile and click the Files tab. All files the contact has submitted through file requests are stored there. You can also see a record of each submission, including file names and sizes, in the contact's activity timeline.

Q: What happens if a contact's file is too large?

A: The upload page rejects any file over 25 MB and shows an error naming that specific file. The contact's remaining files still upload normally. Ask them to split the document into smaller files and send those separately, or to re-save it at a reduced size — in Preview on a Mac, File > Export with the Reduce File Size filter; in Adobe Acrobat, Save as Other > Reduced Size PDF. A rejected file doesn't count against their 50-file limit.

Note: Don't ask a contact to zip a file to get under the limit. ZIP archives aren't a supported format, so the upload page will reject the file again.

Q: Can a contact upload a file type that isn't on the supported list?

A: No. The upload page only accepts PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, TXT, MD, JPG, PNG, and HEIC (or HEIF) files. Other formats, such as ZIP, are rejected when the contact tries to add them. If you need a different format, ask the contact to convert or export the document to PDF before uploading.

Q: Who gets notified when a file is uploaded?

A: The Levitate user who sent the email containing the file request link receives an email when the contact uploads files. If an automation sent the email on behalf of another user, that user is notified. No email is sent for an upload the contact started but didn't finish. The contact also receives a "File Received Confirmation" email listing the files they uploaded. Your account may also copy other team members on upload notifications; contact Support for details.

Adding a Title and Details

When you send files or request files from a contact's profile, Levitate first asks for an optional title and optional details. Open the contact, click the Files tab, and click Send Files or Request Files. A dialog opens with fields for the title and the details. After you complete it, Levitate opens the email composer with the download link or upload link already in the message.

• Send Files: the title appears as the heading on the contact's download page, with the details shown underneath.
• Request Files: the title and details appear on the upload page the contact sees.

Note: The link is created as soon as you complete the dialog. If you cancel the email afterward, the link still exists, and for Send Files a "Sent files" event is still recorded on the contact's timeline.

Naming the Upload and Download Pages

When you insert a file request or send files merge field into a message, you can name the page the contact sees and add a short message. The details are set on the merge field itself, so you can set them wherever you write the message, without going through a contact's Files tab.

Request page details

The upload page created by a {{File Request}} merge field can have a title and optional instructions for the contact.

1. Insert the {{File Request}} merge field into your message. The merge field appears as a chip, and a Request page details popover opens automatically.
2. In the Title field, enter the heading for the upload page. The field is prefilled with the placeholder "What do you need?". Until you edit it, the page title is the email subject.
3. Optionally, add instructions for the contact.
4. Close the popover and finish your message.

To change the details later, hover over the chip to reopen the Request page details popover.

If you leave a field blank, nothing is sent for it.

Download page details

The {{send files}} chip has a matching Download page details popover with a Title field and a Message field. They set the heading and the message on the download page the contact sees. Blank fields send nothing.

Where page details are available

Both popovers are available in:

• Single emails
• Email campaigns
• Email and text steps in automations
• Conversation texts
• Email templates and signatures

They are available to everyone who can already insert the file request merge field.

Limits

• Existing campaigns: For a campaign that already exists, the request details are read-only and a note explains why. Set the title and instructions when you first create the campaign.
• Templates that ask for files: A template that asks for files owns one shared request. When you apply the template, that request's details appear read-only.
• Text step fallback emails: A text step's fallback email shares the text step's upload page, so the fallback email shows no details form.
• Not available: Text campaigns and the HTML newsletter editor don't offer the page details popovers.

One link per email

An email can hold one File Request Link and one Send File Link. In the email editor, open the Merge Fields menu and go to the Files submenu. Once the message already contains a File Request Link, that item is greyed out. Once it already contains a Send File Link, that item is greyed out. A Send File Link you typed as an alias, such as {{download files}}, counts as a Send File Link.

The signature editor's merge field menu applies the same rule to File Request Link. It doesn't offer a Send File Link.

The menu only stops you from adding another link. Links already saved in a template, and links you paste in, stay as they are. Text message composers don't have this restriction. These menu items appear only when Files is enabled on your account and you have permission to use it.

File Requests with Multiple Recipients

When your account's Client Portal is on, a file request link in an email or text covers everyone the message went to, not only members of one household. All of the people on the message use one shared link.

Note: This applies only when the Client Portal is turned on for your account. With the portal off, the link in a message is created for the first contact only.

How the shared link works

• Each contact in the To field, and each member of their household, gets their own draft response behind the one shared link.
• The link opens only the Client Portal. Each person signs in to the portal with their email.
• A send-to-sender copy of the email links the contact it stands in for.
• A group text links every contact in the conversation.

Signature templates

A {{File Request}} merge field in a signature template works on an email with several To contacts, as long as the Client Portal is on.

Uploads and reminders

An upload from anyone on the shared link stops the request's email reminder. It also counts for the file-uploaded step in an automation.

Send Files as a Link

The Send Files flow is the outbound counterpart to a file request. Instead of asking a contact to upload something, you attach one or more files to an email you compose and Levitate delivers them as a secure download link rather than as a raw attachment. The link resolves for the recipient without a Levitate account, and the files are stored against the contact's Files tab so you have a record of what was sent. This also bypasses email attachment size limits — send files as large as 20 MB apiece, up to 20 MB total across everything attached to a single send, without hitting the recipient's inbox cap.

Composing a Send Files email

Open the email composer from a contact profile and enable Send as download link before attaching your files. Levitate replaces the raw attachment in the outbound message with a Securely Download Files link, so the recipient's inbox stays lightweight and any download activity is trackable.

The Files will be replaced with a secure download link in the email body note under the attachment list confirms Levitate will swap the raw attachment for a secure link on send.

Uploading files to send

You can also initiate a Send Files flow from the contact's Files tab using the Send Files button. This opens a drag-and-drop upload modal — drop the files you want to send, or click to browse your device, then click Next to attach them to a new email you compose to the contact.

Where sent files appear

After the email sends, the files show up on the contact's Files tab with a Source column noting how they were delivered. Secure Send means the file was delivered as a secure download link; Single Email means the file was attached directly to a one-off email. The Uploader column records the Levitate user who initiated the send, and the file remains available for the contact and your team to reference later.

Note: Secure download links expire after a set window. If a contact tries to open the link after expiration, they'll see a message that the link is no longer active — resend the file to generate a fresh link if they still need it.

File activity on the contact timeline

The contact timeline now records two additional file events: when you send files to a contact via a secure download link, and when a shared file is deleted. Both events appear on the timeline so you have a complete, chronological history of what was delivered and what was removed — without cross-referencing the Files tab.

Deleting a shared file

To remove a file you sent, open the contact's Files tab, locate the file, and select the delete option on its row. Deleting a shared file removes it from every contact it was shared with — the deletion applies across all records, not just the contact you are currently viewing. A deletion event is recorded on the timeline of each affected contact so the history stays complete even after the file is gone.

Note: Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. The secure download link previously sent to contacts will stop resolving once the file is deleted. If a contact still needs the file, resend it to generate a new link.

Household-scoped download links

When sending files, you can scope the download link to a household rather than to an individual contact. A household-scoped link is shared across all members of that household — any household member can use the same link to download the file, so you don't need to send a separate link to each person in the household.

To use this option, select Household as the link scope when composing a Send Files email or when initiating a send from the contact's Files tab.